Marquette University
Villanova
Marquette Outlasts Villanova, 71-64
3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2008
VILLANOVA, Pa. - With a balanced attack that included two players in double figures, the Marquette women's basketball team earned 71-64 victory over Villanova at The Pavilion Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 16-12 overall and 8-7 in BIG EAST play.
"Villanova is coached extremely well and we knew coming in that this is a difficult place to play," said head coach Terri Mitchell. "We knew we had to teach our freshmen how to play here and how to defend them. I am so proud of our players for the way they defended and how they made critical stops. We had a fantastic week of practice that had a lot of focus and energy, and it translated to the game. Our players followed the game plan and every time Villanova made a run, we answered. We overcame 14 turnovers in the first half by taking care of the ball in the second half and taking high percentage shots."
Junior Krystal Ellis led all scorers with 23, while freshman Angel Robinson added 10 points. Freshman Jocelyn Mellen came off the bench to add nine points, and a team high seven rebounds. For the game, Marquette out-rebounded the Wildcats, 38-30.
"Krystal played unbelievably well on both ends of the court. She very much led the team by not only making critical shots, but by really locking down on defense," said Mitchell.
After a back-and-fourth game in the first half that featured seven ties and 13 lead changes the Golden Eagles and the Wildcats went into half-time all knotted up at 28 points apiece.
Early in the second half, Villanova took a quick 34-30 lead following a brief 6-2 run, but it was short lived as Marquette jumped on a 11-0 run to go ahead 41-34. Ellis and freshman Paige Fiedorowicz each scored buckets for MU, while Janelle Harris added a pair of free throws during that run.
The Wildcats regained the lead after a 10-2 run to go ahead by one point, 44-43, with 11:46 left to play. Marquette answered with a lay-up by Fiedorowicz and back-to-back triples from junior Erin Monfre and Ellis to give the Golden Eagles a seven-point advantage, 51-44, with 10:08 left to play.
Marquette pushed its lead to 10 points, 58-48, with 6:34 remaining thanks to lay-ups from Robinson and senior Svetlana Kovalenko, and two baskets from the charity stripe by Ellis.
The Wildcats would come within five points, 63-58, with just over a minute left to play, and then inch within three, 65-62, after two free throws by Maria Getty. Robinson sank a pair of freebies of her own to keep Marquette ahead, 67-62, with 34 seconds remaining.
Tia Grant's two free throws to come within three points, 67-64, would be the last points Villanova would score as Marquette made four free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the 71-64 win.
For the game, Marquette shot 46.0 percent connecting on 23-of-50 attempts and made an impressive 20-of-26 shots from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats also made 23 attempts from the floor, but were held to a 37.1 shooting percentage. Stacie Witman led Villanova with 19 points.
Ellis led Marquette with seven points in the first half, as the Golden Eagles shot 42.9 percent from the field. Mellen added six points, all from charity stripe, and three rebounds.
Witman paced Villanova in the first with 10 points, six of those points were scored from beyond the arc, while collectively the Wildcats made 11 of 29 attempts (37.9) from the floor.
Marquette will have a days rest before closing out the regular season against USF on Monday, March 3. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., at the Al McGuire Center. Be there for the grand prize drawing in the Monday Madness sweepstakes and to say farewell to senior Svetlana Kovalenko.
