Women's Basketball Extends its Win Streak to Seven

Dec. 21, 2005

MILWAUKEE - Three Golden Eagles scored in double figures as the Marquette women's basketball team defeated South Dakota State, 67-55, at the Al McGuire Center.

With the win, the Golden Eagles extend their win streak to seven games, its longest since the 1999-2000 season, and improve to 9-1 on the season.

"I didn't think anything of a win streak like this at the beginning of the season." said head coach Terri Mitchell. "We have great leadership and but we need to stay hungry and keep playing tough. I am pleased with our performance so far."

Christina Quaye led all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds, while Jasmine McCullough and Danielle Kamm chipped in 17 and 11 points, respectively. Svetlana Kovalenko added six points and a career best 12 rebounds, and Carolyn Kieger contributed six rebounds and a season- high nine assists. The Golden Eagles collectively out rebounded the Jackrabbits, 45-32.

Marquette shot 47.4 percent (27 of 57) from the field for the game from the field for the game, compared to just 35 percent (21 of 60) from South Dakota State. Megan Vogel led the Jackrabbits with 11 points and six rebounds.

"Carolyn did a great job running the offense and everyone just fed off her," said Mitchell. "We weren't defending well in the first half, which led to our frustration with our offense. It is no secret that once our defense picked up our offense did as well."

After grabbing the early advantage, 17-12, on the heels of Danielle Kamm's eight points, South Dakota State rallied back and jumped on a 13-2 run midway through the half to take a 28-21 lead.

"South Dakota State is a very disciplined and fundamentally sound team. They are well-coached." added Mitchell.

Marquette down by as many as nine points (30-21), cut the Jackrabbits lead to three, 32-29, after a 6-0 run to end the half.

Marquette shot 43.3 percent (13 of 30) in the first thanks to 19 combined points from Kamm and McCullough. The Jackrabbits shot 37.5 percent (12 of 32) in the first a solid team effort as their bench scored 22 of their 32 points.

The Golden Eagles came out of the locker room with intensity and scored six of the first eight points to take its first lead in almost 20 minutes, 36-34, three minutes into the second half. Marquette extended its lead to 10 points (48-38) with 12:29 remaining with the help of three buckets from McCullough.

The Jackrabbits came back to cut the Golden Eagles lead to three (48-45) while scoring on three straight possessions. Marquette responded hitting back-to-back treys from Quaye and freshman Erin Monfre to keep the Golden Eagles ahead 55-47 with 7:05 remaining in the game. A 7-0 run helped Marquette push its lead to 14 (65-51) with 4:05 left in the game en route to the win.

The Golden Eagles return to action after the Christmas holiday hosting Rice on Friday, December 30 at the Al McGuire Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.