Golden Eagles Win Home Opener, 72-58, versus Oakland

Nov. 20, 2005

Christina Quaye led four players in double-figures with 17 points, as Marquette cruised to a 72-58 win over Oakland this afternoon at the Al McGuire Center. Jasmine McCullough scored 14 points and grabbed five boards, while Carolyn Kieger added 12 points, seven boards and eight assists, Danielle Kamm chipped in with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Golden Eagles, who improve to 2-0 on the season.

Marquette started strong out of the gate, as Kieger connected with Quaye and McCullough for layups on the first three possessions of the game. Oakland scored five unanswered points, to take its first lead of the game, 8-6, with 3:15 into the game.

"We felt like we had an advantage in the frontcourt against Oakland with Christina, Jasmine and Danielle." said head coach Terri Mitchell. "Our plan was deliberate: to keep pushing it inside to our post players."

Neither team gained more than a three point advantage for much of the first half, trading the lead and tying the score until a layup by Svetlana Kovalenko with 4:20 left in the frame gave MU a 27-25 advantage. They would not trail the rest of the game, building as much as a six-point lead - 33-37 - at the break.

In the second half, after Oakland cut the lead back to four points - 37-33 - with 17:45 to play, Marquette responded with a 14-3 run over the next 5:23, capped off by a fastbreak layup by Krystal Ellis. The basket was Ellis' first of her collegiate career.

The Golden Eagles continued to build on that double-digit lead, going up by as many as 25 points, after Erin Monfre connected on her first collegiate field goal - a three-pointer, which put MU up 72-47, with 3:54 to play. Marquette shot 5-for-9 from the perimeter in the second 20:00. But Oakland did not give up easily, though, outscoring Marquette, 10-0, to close out the game.

"For the second game of the season, I'm certainly pleased with the effort we gave this afternoon." said head coach Terri Mitchell. "There are still so many things we need to work on, but this team always plays hard, trying to play fundamental basketball. Other than the last four minutes of today's game, I thought we did a good job with that."

Amber Johnson scored eight points in her first start of the season, while Tierra Shirley dished out four assists in reserve play. Marissa Thrower saw her first collegiate action, grabbing four rebounds and tallying a block and a steal in 10 minutes of action. Classmates Krystal Ellis (five points, two rebounds, two assists) and Erin Monfre (three points, one assist) also saw their most significant action of the season.

"Our freshmen know that to get on the court, we emphasize to them that they need to make a difference." Mitchell explained. "Krystal knows this and she stepped it up. And the same with Erin and Marissa - she played 10 minutes tonight after not playing versus Evansville and gave us four rebounds. That's what we need from them. They keep getting better and as they do, they'll continue to factor into the rotation."

Next up for the Golden Eagles is Northern Colorado in the first round of the Wingate Classic in Bozeman, Montana on Friday, Nov. 25. Tipoff time is set for 6:30 p.m.

"From Friday night to today, we got better. You get better by playing and practicing hard, and Oakland is a well-coached team that plays hard." Mitchell said. "We strive to continually get better each time out. Our next time out is in Montana and we'll look for that trend to continue."