Golden Eagles Fall 74-68 in Hard-Fought Battle with Mississippi State

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's basketball team gave the tenth-ranked Mississippi Bulldogs all they could handle on Monday evening at the Al McGuire Center. MSU ultimately prevailed in a 74-68 thriller, closing the game on an 18-7 run after trailing 61-56 with 5:41 remaining in the game.

Three Golden Eagles reached double-figures in an explosive offensive performance from first-year head coach Megan Duffy's squad. MU shot 49 percent (26/53) for the game, including a season-best 47.6 percent clip (10/21) from 3-point range.

Senior guard Isabelle Spingola scored a team-high 18 points, hitting six of her 10 tries from behind the arc. Selena Lott added 16 points, marking the fourth time in five tries this season that she's reached double figures. The veteran backcourt combined to shoot 9/15 from 3-point range to keep MU pace with the Bulldogs.

Jordan King also chipped in 16 points, marking a career-best for the freshman guard.

MU went neck-and-neck from with MSU, a team who's played in two of the past three national championship games, from start to finish. The two teams were knotted at 22 after the first quarter and MSU led by just one point (35-34) at halftime.

Trailing 54-47 late in the third quarter, the Golden Eagles scored five straight points to end the period, including a 3-pointer by Spingola right before the buzzer. MU capped off a 14-2 run that spanned over seven minutes of game time with a jumper by Jordan King to put her team up 61-56 with just over five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

MSU turned up the pressure in the final minutes, going on an 18-7 run of their own and forcing five MU turnovers to close the game.

The Bulldogs had five players reach double figures, led by senior guard Jordan Danberry, who scored a game-high 20 points. Center Jessika Carter added 14 points to go along with a career-high 21 rebounds.

Despite the loss, MU (4-2) held MSU (6-0) to a season-low 35.7 percent shooting from the field. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging 102.2 points per game while shooting 52.4 percent as a team.

UP NEXT:
The Golden Eagles are back in action on Friday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. Central time at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, California. MU plays the host St. Mary's Gaels on Friday before taking on Tulsa on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Game Highlights:

👀 Have a look at some stellar highlights from the #muwbb effort tonight against No. 10 Mississippi State. pic.twitter.com/vz6kNKUmCX
— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) November 26, 2019