#MUWBB Takes Down No. 24/23 DePaul

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Marquette women's basketball team defeated No. 24/23 DePaul 85-71 on Wednesday afternoon at Wintrust Arena. With the win, MU clinches the No. 2 seed at next weekend's BIG EAST tournament.

Senior Selena Lott scored 20 of her game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Golden Eagles (17-4, 14-3 BIG EAST) to their first win over a ranked opponent this season. Lott also added six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots as she continues to take her all-around game to another level. Camryn Taylor scored 20 points on an ultra-efficient 8-of-10 shooting with 11 rebounds to tally her third double double of the year. Lauren Van Kleunen (16 points) and Jordan King (13 points) joined them in double figures.

MU started quickly, beginning the game on a 8-2 run, getting baskets from four different players and causing Blue Demons head coach Doug Bruno to burn his first timeout. Defense played a key role in neither team leading by more than four points in the first 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles kept an 18-15 lead after one quarter, getting scoring contributions from six different players and holding DePaul to 6/25 (24%) shooting from the field.

The Blue Demons (13-6, 10-4 BIG EAST) heated up in the second quarter and hit 53% of their shots, eventually grabbing a 33-31 lead with 30 seconds left in the half. MU answered with a layup from Van Kleunen with just five seconds left in the half to tie the game at 33. LVK led the Golden Eagles with 10 first half points.

In the third quarter is when MU began to take its game up a notch. The Golden Eagles shot a scorching 68.8 percent (11/16) from the field and 87.5 percent (7/8) from the foul line on their way to scoring 30 points in the quarter to take a seven point lead. Lott, who had just five points at halftime, came out of the gates in the second half aggressively, scoring 14 points in the third quarter alone.

Camryn Taylor scored 17 of her 20 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter to help MU put the closing touches on a massive road victory over its rival. Her 11 rebounds were also a game-high.

DePaul cut the MU lead to five points with 8:03 left in the game, but would get no closer as the Golden Eagles outscored the Blue Demons 18-9 the rest of the way. MU shot 50.7 percent (35/69) while holding DU to 39 percent (28/72) from the field. The Golden Eagles scored 66 points in the paint and collected 20 second chance points off of 13 DU turnovers. MU also won the battle on the glass by a wide margin at 50-27.

Lexi Held led DePaul with 23 points while Sonya Morris had 18 and Deja Church had 10.

POSTGAME NOTES:
-Marquette tied or won the rebounding battle for the 50th time in the 53 games of the Coach Duffy era (50 to 27 edge).
-The Golden Eagles continued to be the only team in the BIG EAST to keep the same starting lineup in every game (Lott, King, Marotta, Taylor, Van Kleunen).
-MU is on its third winning streak of five-or-more games this season after winning its fifth straight tonight at DePaul.
-MU shot over 50 percent (50.7%) from the field for the eighth time this season (8-0 record).
-It was the second time in the last four tries that MU has won at DePaul. The two teams have split the past four matchups overall, 2-2.
-MU has now won 13 and 14 conference games in its first two years under Coach Duffy. The team is 41-12 (.774) overall under her watch.
-The Golden Eagles moved to 11-0 this season when holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting from the field.
-Lauren Van Kleunen (16 points) reached double figures for the 16th time this season and 46th time in her career. She's now 35 points from 1,000 in her career.
-Camryn Taylor (20 points, 11 rebounds) reached double figures for the 14th time this season and 25th time in her career. She earned her fourth career double double and third of this season.
-Selena Lott (25 points) reached double figures for the 16th time this year and 48th time in her career. It was her 12th career 20+ point game and sixth this season.
-Lott had four steals to bring her career total to 213, which moves her up to No. 9 all-time at Marquette.
-Lott is in 26th place all-time in scoring at MU. She now has 1,134 points.
-Jordan King (13 points) reached double figures for the 10th time this season and 20th time in her career.

UP NEXT:
Marquette will travel to No. 1/1 UConn on Monday, March 1 at 7 p.m. Central time. FloHoops will provide streaming 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).