Marquette Returns Home to Host St. John's on Friday at 7 p.m.

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team will return home for the first time since Dec. 21 and host the Red Storm of St. John's at the Al McGuire Center on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. CT.

The game will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Patrick Reed and Kyle Dlabay handling the call, while Meghan McKeown will be the sideline reporter.

The Golden Eagles went 1-2 on a three-game stretch away from the Al and earned a victory over Providence last Sunday, defeating the Friars 60-50 to secure their first BIG EAST conference win. Lauren Van Kleunen led the team in scoring, contributing 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Freshman Jordan King tallied 11 points, 10 of which came in the first half as senior Altia Anderson collected a game-high nine rebounds helping MU dominate the boards 43-24.

In league play, Van Kleunen leads Marquette (10-4, 1-2) with 16.3 points per game, which ranks 11^th in the BIG EAST standings for conference play, while Lott contributes 12.7 points per game and is 14^th in the league standings. Spingola checks in 25^th at 9.7 points per contest.

As a team the Golden Eagles rank second in the BIG EAST and 13^th overall in the NCAA handing out 18.4 assists per game. Lott is the BIG EAST's individual leader with 6.7 assists in league games, also ranking 10^th in the country with 5.8 overall. MU is also first in the conference in rebounding margin with a +10.7 per game.

UP NEXT: Marquette will remain at home with a test against Seton Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. CT, also on BEDN.

PROMOS
Friday is Pediatric Cancer Awareness. The team will wear gold uniforms and both teams will be wearing gold laces for Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer. https://donate.go4thegoal.org/marquettebasketball Fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4QYGf5tX6E

OPPONENT
ST. JOHN'S (10-5, 3-1): St. John's opened BIG EAST play with a three-game win-streak over Xavier, Butler and Georgetown, before suffering their first loss at home against Villanova in OT. The Red Storm have four players averaging double figures, with junior Qadashah Hoppie leading the way with 16.8 points per game. Preseason All-BIG EAST guard Tiana England is pacing the passing game, dishing out a team-high 4.9 assists to go along with 10.3 points. As a team, St. John's is number two in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 75.1 points on the year thus far.

THE SERIES
Marquette owns the all-time record against St. John's 13-10 with their most recent matchup coming in last year's BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals. The Golden Eagles were able to defeat the Red Storm 88-57 to advance to the Semifinals.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
Following Providence…
"Our upperclassmen were really determined following that loss at Creighton to put a more complete game together today against Providence. They were able to refocus our group and lead our six freshmen and other returners to a tough road-win. You always have to have that road-warrior mentality wherever you play, and I thought we definitely had that today."
-Megan Duffy
Head Coach

Keep up with Marquette women's basketball through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteWBB) and Instagram (@MarquetteWBB) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWBB).