#MUWBB Concludes Three Game Homestand Wednesday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women's basketball team will conclude a three-game homestand against Butler at the Al McGuire Center on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Central time. FloHoops holds the streaming rights and Patrick Reed (play-by-play) and Meghan McKeown (analyst) will be on the call.

The Golden Eagles (12-4, 9-3 BIG EAST) are coming off a challenging weekend in which they faced No. 3/5 UConn and No. 20/21 DePaul in a three-day span. The Golden Eagles fell to the Huskies, 87-58, and to the Blue Demons, 87-82. Prior to those two games, MU had won six in a row. The Golden Eagles will try to get back in the winning column against Butler.

MU is anchored by seniors Selena Lott (15.1 ppg.) and Lauren Van Kleunen (12.9 ppg.) and returned eight contributors from last season. This includes BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection Camryn Taylor, who's averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds this season.

MU has gone with a nine-player rotation this season with sophomore Jordan King (10.0 ppg.) and Chloe Marotta (6.5 reb.) joining the starters. Claire Kaifes, Liza Karlen, Taylor Valladay and Antwainette Walker all play between 8-20 minutes per game off the bench.

Lott has developed into one of the top all-around players in the country in 2020-21. She leads the team in scoring, assists, steals, blocks and free throw percentage. She ranks in the top 10 individually in the BIG EAST in seven statistical categories.

Butler (1-12, 1-11 BIG EAST) is led by seventh-year head coach Kurt Godlevske, whose 88 wins mark the fourth-most by a coach in program history. BU didn't start its season until Dec. 5 out of an abundance of caution due to the COVID-19. The Bulldogs last played on Jan. 31, a 90-53 loss to Villanova. Conversely, this will be MU's sixth game in the last 12 days.

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

GAME DETAILS
Marquette (12-4, 9-3 BIG EAST) vs. Butler (1-12, 1-11 BIG EAST)
Al McGuire Center
Milwaukee, Wis.
Wednesday, Feb. 10
1 p.m. CT
FloHoops.com/FloSports App

LAST TIME OUT
• The Marquette women's basketball team fell 87-82 to the No. 20/21 DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.
• Sophomore guard Jordan King scored a career-high 21 points while dishing out seven assists for the Golden Eagles. Lauren Van Kleunen had 21 points and five boards while Selena Lott had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
• Camryn Taylor (10 points) joined them in double figures, but MU fell just short in the first of two scheduled games against its rival this season.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS – ALL-TIME SERIES
• Butler is led by Odessa junior college transfer Okako Adika, a 2019-20 NJCAA Division 1 First Team All-American. She averages 13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Adika leads Butler in scoring, field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, offensive rebounds and minutes played.
• She's is the only player on the Butler roster to start in all 13 games this season. Other Bulldogs to be active in all 13 games this year include Tenley Dowell, Ellen Ross, and Annilia Dawn.
• Genesis Parker is second on the team with 12.8 points per game, and she's combined with Adika to score 43% of BU's points on the year.
• Butler has struggled defensively in 2020-21, allowing 74.1 points per game to opponents. That average is 12.3 points higher than last year. The only BIG EAST team allowing more points than BU this season is DePaul (77.6).
• MU has won 11 of the last 13 in the series and leads 15-9 all-time, but Butler has won two of four
against the Golden Eagles. Butler won 61-55 at Hinkle in 2019-20 while MU won 76-54 in Milwaukee.

STARTING FIVE
• Marquette had won six straight conference games before dropping ranked games against No. 3/5 UConn and No. 20/21 DePaul this past weekend. Before those games, MU hadn't lost a BIG EAST home game since Feb. 22, 2019, a 61-57 loss to Butler.
• Senior guard Selena Lott became the 30th Golden Eagle in program history to hit the 1,000 point mark on Jan. 27 at Villanova. She netted a team-high 27 points along with 11 assists, her second double double of the season.
• The Golden Eagles are 28-1 under Coach Duffy when leading at halftime and 18-1 when they turn the ball over fewer times than their opponent.
• MU is 11-1 when scoring more than 80 points under Coach Duffy and 24-3 when shooting more free throws than its opponent. The Golden Eagles have scored 80-or-more points six times this year (5-1).
• In the 48 games of the Coach Duffy era, the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded or tied their opponent 45 times (34-11 record). They'll look to continue that streak this week.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
• The Golden Eagles went 13-2 at home in 2019-20, including a perfect 9-0 record in BIG EAST play. So far in 2020-21 MU is 3-3 at home, including 3-2 in BIG EAST play. MU's average margin of victory in BIG EAST home games this year is 28.3 ppg.
• Their only losses last year at home were to Northwestern and Mississippi State, who each finished ranked in the top-15 nationally. This year, MU fell to No. 3/5 UConn, 87-58, and No. 20/21 DePaul, 87-82.
• MU has won 34 of its past 42 games at the Al McGuire Center, which includes a 21-4 record in the last 25 BIG EAST home games.
• Before Friday night, the Golden Eagles hadn'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 is 37-7 in the past three seasons inside the friendly confines of the Al McGuire Center.

KAIFES KILLING IT FROM 3-POINT RANGE
• A sophomore from Shawnee, Kansas, Claire Kaifes played in 24 games in 2019-20, averaging one point and 1.4 rebounds per game, shooting just 28.1 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from 3-point range.
• After a slow start this season, Kaifes has been on fire since the new year hit. Since Jan. 15, Kaifes is shooting a team-best 45 percent (13/29) from 3-point range. She has hit multiple threes in four of the last nine games, including a career-high of four 3-pointers in a Jan. 24 win at Butler.
• She hit three key long balls on Feb. 7 against DePaul to help bring MU back from a 17-point deficit.

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 (15.1) and assists (4.7) while ranking fourth in rebounding (5.4). She ranks in the top 10 in the BIG EAST in scoring, assists, free throw %, 3-point %, 3FG made, minutes and assist/turnover ratio.
• The team's best all-around player, Lott has 44 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. She posted her second on 1/27 at Villanova with 27 points and 11 assists while breaking the 1,000-career point mark.
• Lott netted a season-best 30 points in a win at St. John's on Jan. 17 in her home state of New York.

LOUIS V BOUNCES BACK
• Lauren Van Kleunen bounced back from a tough mid-week game against Creighton to average 19.5 points per game against UConn and DePaul this weekend.
• She led the team in scoring in both games and tallied 21 points on Sunday, which was a season-high for her.
• For her performances this weekend, she was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

WHAT'S NEXT?
• Marquette travels to Providence for a noon Central time tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 13. 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).