Women's Basketball Defeats Fundal Alcobendas, 77-56

May 29, 2007

Madrid, Spain -

After a long day of sightseeing in Toledo, Spain, the Marquette women's basketball team played its first game as part of its 11-day European Tour Tuesday evening. The Golden Eagles defeated Fundal Alcobendas of Madrid, Spain, 77-56. Svetlana Kovalenko led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds while Krystal Ellis added 18 points, all of which were scored in the second half.

"We started the trip off on the right foot tonight," said head coach Terri Mitchell. "I'm please with our players understanding of when it is time to be a tourist and when it is time to play basketball. The entire team put forth a great effort and I look forward to our game tomorrow."

Every player in the lineup contributed to Marquette's victory over its first international foe. Many players who saw little or no time during the regular season saw ample minutes against Fundal Alcobendas. Freshman redshirt Jocelyn Mellen saw her first minutes in competition and came off the bench to add four points in the fourth quarter for Golden Eagles, while sophomore to be Janelle Harris earned a place in the starting lineup and added three points and four rebounds. Junior to be Marissa Thrower was dominant on the boards tallying nine rebounds to go along with nine points.

Marquette went ahead 10-4 early in the first quarter after Kovalenko converted the three-point play. The first quarter ended with Marquette on top, 25-15. Fundal Alcobendas played tough defense in the second quarter and were able to convert eight free throws, but the Golden Eagles still dominated play. Marquette held a 41-29 at half-time intermission. Kovalenko paced Marquette in the first stanza with 12 points and six rebounds.

Ellis got hot in the second knocking down 13 of MU's 18 points in the third period that included a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third. The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 17 points, 59-42, heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Kovalenko was Marquette's anchor to close out the game with eight points. She converted back-to-back three-point plays in final 4:30 of the game to secure the win.

"It was so good to finally run," added assistant coach Michelle Nason. "We expected to see some sloppy play after we have been sightseeing for the last two days, but overall we played hard. It was fun to see our younger players step up and see what they can do. V (Svetlana Kovalenko) came out very confident on offense and was very active defensively. It was a good game for us to get the cobwebs off and now prepare for three more games."

Marquette will play its second of four games Wednesday evening in Madrid against Club Deportivo Hercesa.