Golden Eagles Take on Georgetown Wednesday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's basketball team is set to host Georgetown on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. Central time at the Al McGuire Center. Patrick Reed (play-by-play) and Megan McKeown (color commentary) will be on the call and FloHoops will carry the game.

The Golden Eagles (7-2, 4-1 BIG EAST) went 24 days between games after their Dec. 22 game at Xavier, getting back to action last weekend against Seton Hall and St. John's. MU split the two on its east coast road trip, losing to SHU and beating SJU.

Although the team is anchored by seniors Selena Lott (17.4 ppg.) and Lauren Van Kleunen (12.4 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 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds as a sophomore this year.

MU has typically rolled with a nine-girl rotation this season with sophomore Jordan King (9.6 ppg.) and leading rebounder Chloe Marotta (7.7 reb.) joining the starters. Claire Kaifes, Liza Karlen, Taylor Valladay and Antwainette Walker all play between 10-20 minutes per game off the bench.

Georgetown (1-3, 1-3 BIG EAST) is led by fourth-year head coach James Howard, who led the Hoyas to two WNIT appearances in his first two seasons. The Hoyas didn't play their first game until Dec. 19 because of a pause of team activities due to COVID-19.

The Hoyas have had 11 games either canceled or postponed during the 2020-21 season thus far. In the four games they've played, they lost to DePaul twice and Butler on the road. GT was able to get its first win at home against the Bulldogs. The Hoyas are set to play five games in the next 13 days, including two games against the Golden Eagles.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
The game will be televised on FloHoops while GoMarquette.com will provide live stats. Make sure to follow along on Twitter @MarquetteWBB for live in-game updates.

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (7-2, 4-1 BIG EAST) vs. Georgetown (1-3, 1-3 BIG EAST)
Al McGuire Center
Milwaukee, Wis.
Wednesday, Jan. 20
2 p.m. CT

LIVE COVERAGE
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

LAST TIME OUT
• The Marquette women's basketball team defeated St. John's 72-61 on Sunday afternoon at Carnesecca Arena. MU went 1-1 on this weekend's east coast road trip and improves to 7-2 (4-1 BIG EAST).
• Selena Lott carried the scoring load for the Golden Eagles, netting a season-best 30 points on an efficient 11/14 shooting from the field.
• Junior forward Chloe Marotta was all over the floor on Sunday, tallying season-highs in points (11), rebounds (14) and assists (7). Camryn Taylor added in 13 points, three rebounds and three assists.
• Both teams exchanged blows for much of the game with nobody leading by more than nine points. The Golden Eagles led 52-49 heading into the fourth quarter and the game seemed up for grabs.
• MU changed that by bursting out in the final quarter with an 18-6 run, led by nine points from Lott. The Golden Eagles shot 8/13 (61.5%) in the final 10 minutes and held the Red Storm to just 5/17 (29.4%) shooting.

STARTING FIVE
• The Golden Eagles are 17-6 in the BIG EAST under Coach Duffy, including a perfect 10-0 record at home.
• Coach Duffy coached her 100th career game as a head coach on Thursday, Dec. 10. She holds a 75-30 (.714) overall record, including a 31-10 (.756) mark at Marquette. Coach Duffy holds the best coaching record in program history through her first 40 games as the head coach. The next closest was Terri Mitchell (1996-14), who went 28-12 through her first 40 games.
• The Golden Eagles are 23-1 under Coach Duffy when leading at halftime and 13-1 when they turn the ball over fewer times than their opponent.
• MU is 18-2 when scoring more than 70 points under Coach Duffy and 21-2 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.
• In the 41 games of the Coach Duffy era, the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponent in 38 of those games (29-9 record). They'll look to continue that streak this week.

SCOUTING THE HOYAS – ALL-TIME SERIES
• Georgetown is led by freshman Kelsey Ransom, who leads the team with 11 points per game. She was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.5 spg and 1.5 apg for the Hoyas over two games.
• Graduate student Milan Bolden-Morris is second on the team in scoring at 10.0 ppg while freshman Yasmin Ott scores nine points a night.
• GT is coming off losses to Butler (58-40) and DePaul (78-54) last week to drop their record to 1-3.
• Marquette has won 20 of the 24 games all-time against Georgetown, including 11 of the 12 contests in Milwaukee. MU has won six straight in the series with GT's last win coming on Jan. 19, 2018 in Washington, D.C. MU's only home loss to the Hoyas came on Jan. 17, 2012 (67-39).

PROMOTING UNITY
• Prior to the game, the two teams and their coaching staffs met via Zoom and connected in breakout rooms to discuss current events going on in the United States and how to push for change in their respective communities. Key talking points included breakdowns of what happened in Washington D.C. last week, a push for unity, striving for change and fostering dialogue in your family.
• After the national anthem is played leading up to the game, both teams will stand side-by-side on the center MU logo in a show of unity as the song "Lift Every Voice" is played. Both coaching staffs will join together on the free throw line before the game as well.
• Postgame, Marquette head coach Megan Duffy and Georgetown head coach James Howard will participate in a postgame Zoom press conference to promote the importance of unity within their teams and communities as well as encouraging their players to have a voice in a safe space.

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
• Selena Lott is 33 points away from hitting the 1,000 point mark for her career. Lauren Van Kleunen is 198 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 16/35 (46%) from downtown this season.
• Lott is 20 steals away from a tie for 10th all-time in Golden Eagles history.

VALLADAY COMES TO PLAY
• Marquette went into games against Seton Hall and St. John's last weekend with just eight available players and Valladay came through big time. She scored a career-high 12 points off the bench against Seton Hall on Friday while notching eight on Sunday at St. John's.
• She did so on a combined 10/13 shooting effort while averaging two boards and two assists per game.
• Valladay's improved play led to a significant minutes increase as she set a career-high Friday (27) while clocking in 23 minutes on Sunday, the top number for all MU bench players.

LVK ALL DAY
• The senior out of Mason, Ohio has had a very strong senior season. She ranks second on the team in points (12.4) and third in rebounds (5.4) while shooting 50% from the floor for the second straight year.
• 'Grandma,' as her teammates call her, had scored in double figures for 12 games in a row before being held to nine points at Xavier on Dec. 22.
• She's tallied 36 career double-figure scoring games and has led the team in scoring 10 times during her career.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Golden Eagles went 13-2 at home in 2019-20, including a perfect 9-0 record in BIG EAST play.
• Their only losses were to Northwestern and Mississippi State, who each finished ranked in the top-15 nationally after last season.
• MU has won 33 of its past 38 games at the Al McGuire Center, which includes a 22-1 record in the last 23 BIG EAST home games.
• The Golden Eagles haven't lost a BIG EAST home game since Feb. 22, 2019, a 61-57 loss to Butler.
• MU hasn't lost more than four home games in a season since 2014-15 and its 36-5 in the past three seasons inside the friendly confines of the Al McGuire Center.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• MU's next game will be Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. at Butler. FS1 will have television coverage.

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).