#MUWBB Set for Road Trip to Xavier

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's basketball team is set hit the road to take on the Xavier Musketeers on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. Central time. FloHoops will provide streaming coverage and GoXavier.com will show live stats.

The Golden Eagles (5-1, 2-0 BIG EAST) have won four straight games since dropping a non-conference game to Milwaukee on Dec. 2. The Pirates won their first two games but have dropped the past couple, including their last one to No. 3 UConn in its return to the BIG EAST.

Led by second year head coach Megan Duffy, the Golden Eagles are coming off a 24-8 (13-5 BIG EAST) season in which they finished as conference runner-up and advanced to the BIG EAST tournament title game for the fourth straight year.

Although MU is anchored by seniors Selena Lott (17.8 ppg.) and Lauren Van Kleunen (14.3 ppg.), the team returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year. This includes BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection Camryn Taylor, who's averaging 10.7 points and 7.4 rebounds as a sophomore this year.

Under Duffy, the Golden Eagles are 29-9 overall, having won 76% of the games in her tenure thus far. Duffy is 73-29 overall as a head coach.

Xavier (3-2, 0-1 BIG EAST) is led by second-year head coach Melanie Moore. A former Michigan assistant, Moore was hired in April of 2019. Under her watch, XU went 3-27 (2-16 BIG EAST) in 2019-20.

So far this season, the Musketeers have matched their win total from a year ago with wins over Detroit Mercy, Wofford and Indiana State. Four of XU's five games have been decided by single digits. The Musketeers are 3-1 in those contests.

LAST TIME OUT
MU defeated St. John's 66-62 on Wednesday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center. Selena Lott led the way with 21 points for MU while Lauren Van Kleunen added 12, including the eventual game-winning hook shot with 52 seconds to play. The two seniors played critical roles in helping to erase a six-point halftime deficit to the Red Storm.

The Golden Eagles were supposed to play Seton Hall on Saturday, but the game was cancelled because of positive COVID-19 tests in the Pirates program.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
The game will be live steamed on FloHoops.com and the FloHoops app. Live stats will be available GoXavier.com. Make sure to follow along on Twitter @MarquetteWBB for live in-game updates.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (5-1, 2-0 BIG EAST) at Xavier (3-2, 0-1 BIG EAST)
Cintas Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, Dec. 22
1 p.m. CT

LIVE COVERAGE
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

STARTING FIVE
• The Golden Eagles are 15-5 in the BIG EAST under Coach Duffy, including a 4-5 record on the road.
• Coach Duffy coached her 100th career game as a head coach on Thursday, Dec. 10. She holds a 73-29 (.716) overall record, including a 29-9 (.763) mark at Marquette.
• The Golden Eagles are 21-1 under Coach Duffy when leading at halftime and 13-1 when they turn the ball over fewer times than their opponent.
• MU is 17-2 when scoring more than 70 points under Coach Duffy and 19-2 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.
• In the 38 games of the Coach Duffy era, the Golden Eagles have outrebounded their opponent in 35 of those games. They'll look to continue that streak this weekend.

SCOUTING THE MUSKETEERS
• Coach Moore, in the second year of her tenure, is tasked with leading the revival of a Xavier program that hasn't finished above .500 since the 2015-16 season.
• The Musketeers are led in scoring by senior forward A'Riana Gray. The Cleveland, Ohio native averages 13.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, which rank second on the team.
• XU's leading scorer is redshirt freshman Nia Clark (14.8 ppg). Clark sat out last year after transferring in from Miami (OH) and has been a revelation for the Musketeers, scoring double figures in each game and shooting 45% from the field.
• Kae Satterfield is averaging 9.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season with a .581 field-goal percentage (18-for-31). She ranks in the top five in the BIG EAST in FG% and rebounding.
• 10 players average at least 10 minutes per game and seven players average five or more points per game. Increased depth and options off the bench are two reasons for XU's strong start to 2020-21.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST XAVIER
• Marquette is 15-7 all-time against Xavier and have won the past eight meetings in the series.
• Last season, the Golden Eagles won 61-48 at home and 80-60 at the Cintas Center.
• Camryn Taylor had 10 points and Lauren Van Kleunen chipped in eight during MU's win at the Al McGuire Center to help lead the MU offense. In the game at the Cintas Center, Selena Lott had 14 points while Taylor scored 13. The Golden Eagles held Xavier to just 29% shooting from the floor.
• The Golden Eagles have won four straight games against the Musketeers at the Cintas Center and haven't lost there since Jan. 15, 2016, a 71-66 loss.

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
• Selena Lott is 83 points away from hitting the 1,000-point mark for her career. Lauren Van Kleunen is 224 points away from hitting that threshold. They would be the 30th and 31st MU players to reach 1,000 career points.
• Selena Lott is a career 37.2% 3-point shooter, which ranks 7th all-time at MU. She's 15/31 (48.4%) from downtown this season.
• Lott is 25 steals away from a tie for 10th all-time in Golden Eagles history.

MU BY THE NUMBERS – BIG EAST (2020-21)
Scoring Offense: 75.0 (5th)
Scoring Defense: 64.0 (6th)
Scoring Margin: +11.0 (4th)
FT Percentage: .686 (7th)
FG Percentage: .448 (3rd)
FG Pct. Defense: .387 (5th)
3FG Percentage: .313 (6th)
3FG Pct. Defense: .318 (8th)
Rebounding Offense: 41.2 (4th)
Rebounding Defense: 32.0 (3rd)
Blocked Shots: 3.0 (8th)
Assists: 20.2 (2nd)
Steals: 7.8 (8th)

HAVING A LOTT OF FUN
• Senior guard Selena Lott is coming off a breakout season that helped her garner significant preseason acknowledgement both around the conference and nationally.
• So far in 2020-21, Lott leads the team in scoring (17.8) and assists (4.3) while ranking third in rebounding (5.5). She ranks in the top five in the BIG EAST in scoring, assists free throw % (.917) and 3FG made (2.4).
• Perhaps the team's best all-around player, Lott has 38 double figure scoring games in her career. She notched her first career double double in a win at Belmont (12/13) grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 18 points and five assists.
• With 917 career points, Lott is just 83 points away from becoming the 30th Golden Eagle to reach the 1,000-point threshold.

NEWCOMERS FINDING THEIR FOOTING
• Several of MU's newcomers have started to carve out roles for themselves in the rotation.
• Antwainette Walker, Liza Karlen and Julianna Okosun combined for 18 points, 14 rebounds and two assists in the Golden Eagles win over Providence (12/4).
• Walker and Karlen had eight points each on a combined 6/11 shooting. Karlen hit two big threes in the first half to help break the game open against the Friars. Walker had all eight of her points in half No. 2.
• Rose Nkumu netted her first collegiate basket against UND in the season opener.
• Liza Karlen scored a career-high nine points, all in the second half, to help MU rally back from a six-point deficit to defeat SJU at home on Wednesday.

WHAT'S NEXT?
MU's first game after Christmas is scheduled for Dec. 30 against UConn at the Al McGuire Center. The Golden Eagles will then kick off the new year with a road trip to UConn on Jan. 2.

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