Golden Eagles Top Illinois State, 58-41

MILWAUKEE—The Marquette women's basketball team closed out a busy opening week of the 2019-20 campaign with a great defensive win, 58-41 over Illinois State on Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.

The Golden Eagles (3-0) were led by redshirt junior Lauren Van Kleunen with 14 points, while freshmen Jordan King and Nirel Lougbo each added nine points. Sophomore Chloe Marotta had a strong presence on the boards once again with nine rebounds, while senior Altia Anderson took down seven.

It was a slower start to the game for both teams, but Marquette got on the board first and never trailed Illinois State (1-1), taking its biggest lead of 21 points as the fourth quarter was winding down. The Golden Eagles had just 13 turnovers, while dishing out 21 assists and they scored 15 points off of the Redbirds' miscues.

"I am really proud of our team," head coach Megan Duffy said. "It has been a long first week, but a great first week with three wins in six days. That is a lot in the first week of the season just in the mental and physical side of it. I knew that tonight was going to be, in a lot of ways some ugly moments, just the way that Illinois State plays. They are really getting their program going in the right direction and I thought we did a great job defensively just making it difficult, taking away some of their initial actions and using our athleticism. I'm also really proud of some people that you don't see a lot of- Nirel Lougbo was really good coming off the bench."

Marquette shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the floor and held Illinois State to just 16-for-59 at 27.1 percent.

The Redbirds were led by Tete Maggett with 16 points as Lexi Wallen added 10 points in the game.

UP NEXT: Marquette welcomes Northwestern to the Al McGuire Center on Thursday, Nov. 14. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.