Golden Eagles Knock Off Undefeated Kansas, 67-57

Dec. 7, 2008

MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette University women's basketball team defeated the previously undefeated Kansas Jayhawks Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center, 67-57.

All-America candidate Krystal Ellis chipped in a season-high 32 points, tying an Al McGuire Center record, in 32 minutes for the Golden Eagles who improved to 7-2 on the season.

"Krystal is a scorer and yet she's played plenty games this year where she has distributed, but today was her game," said MU head coach Teri Mitchell. "We just kept calling her number. We'd go away from it and then call her back. The team was getting excited to get her set up. She made some amazing shots and she was in the zone."

From the 3:47 mark of the first, Ellis scored Marquette's final eight points of the half and opened the second with eight more, pulling the Golden Eagles within one at 36-35. Ellis accounted for 16 straight points during that stretch and helped Marquette take the lead, 37-36, after a steal and assist to Lauren Thomas-Johnson.

"My teammates started finding me, and that really helped," said Ellis. "They set screens for me to get open, and they always find the hot shooter in the second half. They realized I was the hot shooter, and I think that made the difference."

With Ellis being held scoreless for 10:15 in the second half, sophomore Angel Robinson stepped up to score seven straight before Ellis hit a three to give Marquette its largest lead of the game at 61-51, effectively closing out the game for the Golden Eagles.

Missed free throws and lapses on the defensive end from the three-point line and on the offensive glass characterized the first half for the Golden Eagles.

The Jayhawks got off to quick start thanks to junior Danielle McCray who scored eight of Kansas' first 10 points, helping KU jump out to a 10-4 lead. In the first half McCray led all scorers with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line and scored 22 for the game. Kansas was 6-of-11 from three in the first while the Golden Eagles were a mere 2-of-6.

"It all comes down to our defense," said Mitchell. "[Kansas] averaged 80-some points a game, and to hold them to 57 is a big deal. Obviously, we have all the respect in the world for Danielle McCray and what she does, and I think our team made her a complete focus and were able to stop her the best we could."

The charity stripe was not so charitable for Marquette in the first half as the Golden Eagles shot 25 percent on 3-of-12 shooting. Contributing to that number was Georgie Jones who missed four straight free throws with under a minute to play in the first.

On the offensive glass Marquette was being beaten 10-to-5 after the final media timeout of the first half but pulled their deficit to 11-to-9 by the intermission.

While the Jayhawks controlled the offensive boards, the Golden Eagles patrolled the KU passing lanes, forcing 13 turnovers in the first half, leading to a 14-0 advantage in points off turnovers. For the game, Marquette held a 29-10 advantage in points off of 28 KU turnovers.

In the first, both teams shot 37.9 percent from the floor on 11-of-29 shooting, while Marquette responded to shoot 46.7 percent in the second.

The Golden Eagles return to action Saturday at Wisconsin, a game which will be broadcast live on BigTenNetwork.com.