Golden Eagles Open Final Road Trip at Villanova Friday

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team returns east for its final road trip of the BIG EAST regular season this weekend beginning at Villanova Wildcats on Friday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. CT.

The game will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Matt Janus and Christine Motta handling the call from Finneran Pavilion.

The Golden Eagles (20-6, 11-4) are hot off a big 76-54 win over Butler this past Sunday at the Al McGuire Center to hold on to second place in the BIG EAST standings. Five Golden Eagles finished in double-figures but were led by their seniors Altia Anderson and Isabelle Spingola. Anderson finished with a 10-point 12-rebound performance while Spingola ended with a game-high 17 points, landing her a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll. As a team, MU shot a scorching 56.9% and handed out 21 assists on their 29 made field goals.

Lott continues to lead the Golden Eagles with 14.8 points per game, which is ninth in the BIG EAST, while Van Kleunen, Spingola, and Taylor also rank in the top-30. Altia Anderson has been a force on the glass this season and is pulling down 6.5 boards per night, which ranks 12^th in the conference as Van Kleunen and Spingola join her in the top-20.

As a team the Golden Eagles rank second in the BIG EAST and eighth in the NCAA dishing out 18.4 assists per game, while Lott is second in the league and 13^th in the country with 5.8 assists.

UP NEXT: Marquette travels to the nation's capital to face Georgetown on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
LIVE STATS: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=276088
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxkI7thbYNg

OPPONENT
VILLANOVA (14-11, 8-6): The Wildcats are coming off a 48-40 win at Georgetown this past weekend. They were led by Bridget Herlihy with 15 points who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Madison Siegrist and Mary Gedeka have led Villanova throughout the season, combining for an average of 37.1 points per game. Siegrist leads the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game, while Gedaka is fifth at 17.3 points per contest.

THE SERIES
Friday will mark the 24^th meeting between the two teams. Marquette leads the series 15-9 and has won seven straight over the Wildcats, including a 57-52 victory in the first meeting this season in Milwaukee.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
Following the win over Butler…
"I am thrilled about our performance today. We were pretty upset about the last time we played Butler this season and they are a tough team to play against. To have our team show up the way they did in the first quarter I thought was tremendous. We were able to sustain that energy throughout the game as we had five players finish in double-digit scoring."
- Megan Duffy
Head Women's Basketball Coach

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