Marquette University Athletics
Women's Basketball Defeats Rhode Island, 78-61
12/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Kieger, Juedes combine for 38 points
Recap | Box Score
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KINGSTON, R.I. ? Marquette?s three point efforts paced the Golden Eagles to a decisive 78-61 victory over Rhode Island in the final game of a three-game road trip. Junior guard Carolyn Kieger led Marquette with 21 points. Senior guard Lesley Juedes tied her career high with 17 points.
Marquette (6-2) used the outside shot to its advantage in the 17-point win over Rhode Island (2-6). The Golden Eagles hit a season-high nine three-point baskets. Juedes finished the game with five three-point baskets. Marquette hit 9-of-17 threes for the game.
?I think we did a good job of finding the open shooter on the weak side,? head coach Terri Mitchell said. ?Our players did a good job of knowing that Lesley was shooting well and were able to find her.?
The Golden Eagles? raced out to a big lead, taking a 30-17 advantage just 10:18 into the contest. Marquette was on fire in the first half, hitting 45.7 percent of its shots. Juedes led the way with 11 points by the break, hitting her first three three-point shots of the game.
Rebounding led Marquette to its big win as well. Marquette out-rebounded Rhode Island 42-23 for the game, led by seven from junior forward Efueko Osagie. Marquette had 17 of its rebounds on the offensive end, leading to 19 second chance points.
?We?ve been addressing rebounding all week,? Mitchell said. ?We felt like it was a missing piece recently. We definitely got better on the boards today.?
Marquette?s defense also clamped down on Rhode Island?s Peta Kneen in the second half. Kneen led all scorers in the first half with 17 points, but the Golden Eagles? defense limited her to five points in the second half. Kneen only scored three of those in the final minutes when the game was long settled, finishing with a game-best 22 points.
Offensively, Marquette continued to be dominating in the second half, hitting 50 percent of its shots, including 4-of-5 three pointers. Kieger scored 11 in the final 20 minutes.
The win concludes the longest road trip of the season, a three-game swing. Marquette plays its next two contests at home, but not before a week off for final exams.
?It?s been a tough trip and we did a good job of fighting through the distractions of travel and exams next week,? Mitchell said. ?We picked up a big road win today. I felt like we got better in many aspects of our game and now we have some time to prepare for our next game.?
The Golden Eagles have a week to prepare for fifth-ranked Notre Dame. Marquette meets the Irish on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center.
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