Marquette University Athletics
Marquette University
USF
Golden Eagles Earn 61-55 Win at USF
1/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. - Paige Fiedorowicz made a layup with 1:35 left to play and Tatiyiana McMorris drained a 3-pointer with 29.3 seconds remaining to give the Marquette University women's basketball team a 61-55 win at USF Sunday afternoon.
The win is Marquette's third straight as the Golden Eagles improve to 15-3 overall and 3-2 in BIG EAST play. The Bulls drop to 9-10 overall and remain winless in league play (0-5).
The Golden Eagles shot a meager 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the floor for the game, but made up for it with 21 trips to the free throw line, knocking down 18 of their attempts (85.7 percent). USF was held to 34.8 percent (24-of-69) shooting for the game, and was out-rebounded 49-38.
Andrea Smith scored a game-high 17 points and Leondra Stephens-Doomes added 13 points to lead USF.
After trading baskets early on, the Bulls used a 13-0 run to go ahead, 20-8, with 11:29 left in the first half.
The Golden Eagles cut the lead to four points, 20-16, following an 8-0 run of their own, but the Bulls quickly pushed the lead back to double digits, 27-16, with 5:53 left in the first half.
Collins and Katherine Plouffe each hit a pair of free throws and Simmons hit a jumper with 39 seconds left in the half which left MU trailing at the break, 34-27.
Marquette continued to chip away at USF's lead out of the intermission. Simmons went to the hoop and drew the foul for the 3-point play, and Angel Robinson hit one from behind the arc to give MU its first lead of the second half, 42-40, with 11:37 to play.
For the next eight minutes, there were eight lead changes until McMorris hit her second triple of the game to give MU a one-point lead, 54-53, with 3:12 remaining in the game. Fiedorowicz pushed that lead to three points (56-53) with her layup with 1:35 left to play.
Marquette forced USF's Porche Grant to turn the ball over with 53 seconds left and McMorris nailed her final 3-pointer to put MU up six points, 59-53, to seal the win for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when it hosts Syracuse at the Al McGuire Center. The 1 p.m. tip-off will be broadcast live regionally on the BIG EAST Network and locally on Sports32.
Game Notes
- Marquette moves to 17-2 all-time against the Bulls. The Golden Eagles are 6-2 since the two teams joined the BIG EAST for the 2005-06 season.
- Sarina Simmons finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and fifth of her career.
- Jasmine Collins finished with 13 points to mark her seventh game of the season she has scored in double figures. Collins is MU's leading scorer off the bench with 8.6 points per game.
- Marquette made 85.7 percent of its free throw attempts (18-of-21), its second highest percentage of the season. The Golden Eagles have shot better than 85 percent from the charity stripe in the last two games.
- The game featured four tie scores and 14 lead changes with eight of those lead changes coming in the final 11:37 of the game.
-Tatiyiana McMorris pushed her double-figure scoring streak to seven games with 15 points. McMorris added a game-high six assists, which is her highest total in five games.
