Marquette University Athletics
Women's Basketball Defeats No. 19 DePaul, 63-57
1/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Juedes scores career best 21 in victory
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MILWAUKEE (AP) ? Marquette defeated No. 19 DePaul, 63-57, at the Al McGuire Center in a match up that is quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in women's college basketball. Marquette has won the last three meetings between the two teams by a combined total of only seven points.
"Once again, it is the DePaul-Marquette matchup that we expect," said Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell. "No lead is safe, if you are ahead you know you can't rest and if you are behind, you know you can come back. I give my team credit for forgetting about the first half and coming out strong to start the second half.
DePaul held a 35-30 halftime lead, but Marquette came out of the break scoring nine straight points. The Golden Eagles took a 36-35 lead at the 15:59 mark when Lesley Juedes connected on a three-pointer, it was Marquette's first lead since the 15:59 mark of the first half.
"That first run we went on helped a lot," said Juedes. "To come out in the second half right away and go on that run will definitely help your confidence and help you to finish the game."
Juedes finished the game with a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers. The senior forward was 5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point line.
The Blue Demons came back when they later went on a 12-2 run of their own, taking a 47-41 lead when Jenni Dant connected on a 3-pointer with 9:15 remaining.
Juedes answered back with a 3-pointer that kicked off the 14-0 run for the Golden Eagles.
"We went to some of our quick hit plays (during the run)," said Mitchell. "We thought our post wasn't getting the touches they needed and they sink to the level of the ball, so we wanted to challenge that. We settled into what was giving us the best looks and worked on ball reversal."
Marquette's run was stopped when Khara Smith connected on a free throw at the 5:12 mark of the second half. Marquette held Smith to only two points in the second half and ten for the game.
"We didn't get Khara enough touches," said DePaul head coach Doug Bruno. "That is a credit to Marquette's solid zone defense. Terri Mitchell has one of the best zone defenses in the nation."
DePaul came within two points at the 3:25 mark of the second half as Allie Quigley hit a three-pointer. Marquette did not connect on a field goal after that point but did make 8-of-9 free throws following Quigley's to ensure the win.
"There were three or four or five situations that didn't go our way in the start of the half," said DePaul head coach Doug Bruno. "We didn't make plays and they were making the plays, you can't make a play against that zone by yourself."
DePaul jumped out to a hot start in the game hitting six of its first nine shots in the first 5:46. Four and a half scoreless minutes by Marquette allowed DePaul to enjoy a 20-11 lead at the 11:31 mark of the first half.
Juedes broke the drought with a three-pointer at the 11:16 mark that brought Marquette within six points. DePaul was able to hold the lead throughout the rest of half taking with them a 35-30 lead into the halftime break.
"There was't anything specific we changed at halftime," said Marquette point guard Carolyn Kieger. "We talked a lot about rebounds, at half, we wanted to close that rebound margin. there really wasn't one thing that coach said we wanted to change."
Kieger finished the game with 11 points and led Marquette with five assists.
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