WBB Defeats Milwaukee 59-51

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (7-2, 2-0 BIG EAST) defeated Milwaukee in a cross-town clash on Wednesday night at Klosche Arena, 59-51.

"I'm just really thrilled to get a win against Milwaukee. It's a great rivalry that we've been doing through the years. Kyle (Rechlicz) has got a great program and they're such a hard-nosed team," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "We always know it's going to be ugly and we had a tough loss last year to them so it was really important to be focused and locked in."

It was an eventful night for graduate forward Lauren Van Kleunen, who made history as she set the program record for the most career games played in a Marquette uniform. In her 135th game in the blue and gold she had the best offensive output of her career, scoring a career-high 25 points in the matchup.

"That's pretty cool to be a part of the history books but I think that's just coming in each day and trying to get better," Van Kleunen said. "I've had the same mentality and it's awesome to have that record. It sounds like I'm a little old but I prefer the word experienced. I'm definitely happy about that but just going to continue to get better each day and try to be as consistent as possible."

After a slow start from both teams, a first quarter in which Marquette and Milwaukee both had four-plus turnovers, the Golden Eagles gained a lead by the hand of Van Kleunen, who had 12 points in the second quarter to put MU up 29-18 going into the halftime break.

Senior forward Chloe Marotta made her impact felt in the fourth quarter, picking up four points and three boards securing a double-double, her second of the season. The forward would grab a season-high 13 points on the road to the win.

Despite a strong late push from Milwaukee (4-6, 3-1 Horizon), which scored 22 of its 51 points in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles were able to hold on to secure the win.

The Panthers were led by Sydney Staver, who finished with 16 points.

In what was her 135th career game at Marquette, Lauren Van Kleunen became the all-time leader in career games played. She surpassed Angel Robinson (2007-11).
Van Kleunen needs just four more appearances to break the all-time Marquette games played record (men's and women's), currently held by former men's stand-out, Lazar Hayward with 138 games played from 2006-10.
Van Kleunen scored a career-high 25 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field.
Chloe Marotta went for 13 points and 10 boards to earn the fourth career double-double and second of the season.
Jordan King filled the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds and a career-high nine assists. Her nine assists are the most by a MU player this season.
Marquette shot an efficient 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field in the first half, while holding Milwaukee to just 29.2 percent (7-of-24).
The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle, 38-29. This was their eighth time outrebounding an opponent in nine games this year.
With the win, Marquette improves to 32-20 all-time against Milwaukee. MU has now won 27 of the past 30 meetings between the two squads.
This is Marquette's fourth-straight season getting off to a 7-2 or better start.

UP NEXT: Marquette returns home this weekend to host North Dakota (4-4) on Saturday, Dec. 11. The game will tip-off at 4 p.m. (CT) and can be streamed on FloHoops.

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).