Marquette Claims BIG EAST Opener, 68-60

Jan. 3, 2009

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette women's basketball team opened BIG EAST Conference play on Saturday with a 68-60 win over USF at the Al McGuire Center. Sophomore Angel Robinson tallied her second collegiate double-double in leading the Golden Eagles to victory with a game-high 23 points, including 10 rebounds.

USF (13-2, 0-1 BIG EAST) led the nation in scoring averaging 92.1 points per contest and had won nine straight entering Saturday's tilt, while Marquette (10-5, 1-0 BIG EAST) was able to get back on the winning track following its one-point loss to UW-Milwaukee earlier in the week.

The Bulls took their largest lead of the game, 23-15, when Brittany Denson scored an easy layup in transition off a block by teammate Jessica Lawson at the 7:32 mark in the first half. MU slowly chipped away at the lead by outscoring the Bulls 8-2 in the final four minutes of the first stanza.

Marquette, wearing its all-gold uniforms with blue trim, was able to garner its first lead of the game 14 seconds before halftime buzzer as Erin Monfre found a wide-open Melissa Thrower under the basket to give the Golden Eagles a 30-29 advantage at the intermission, a lead which MU would not relinquish.

The second of three straight baskets by USF's Porche Grant got the Bulls to within one at 45-44 at the midway point in the second half, but a pair of Monfre 3-pointers extended MU's cushion back to 55-46, forcing USF to take a 30-second timeout with seven minutes remaining.

Consecutive jumpers by Shantia Grace got the Bulls back to within four at 62-58 before Lauren Thomas-Johnson assisted Paige Fiedorowicz on four of her 13 points in the closing minutes to help fend off another potential late rally by an MU opponent. Thomas-Johnson finished with 10 points.

Grace led the Bulls with 17 points in addition to seven rebounds. Jessica Lawson added 12 rebounds and eight points and Jasmine Wynne registered 11 points coming off the bench.

Both teams got 22 points apiece from their respective benches as starting guards from each squad struggled to find get into a groove, and MU out-rebounded USF by a margin of 46-36. Neither team was able to find its touch from the outside going a combined 5-of-34 (14.7 percent) from 3-point range. Meanwhile, MU went 21-of-29 from the foul line, compared to 8-of-14 shooting by the Bulls.

Marquette will return to action next Saturday, January 10 when the Golden Eagles travel to South Orange, N.J. to take on Seton Hall.