#MUWBB Falls 63-53 at No. 1 UConn

STORRS, Conn. - The Marquette women's basketball team fell to No. 1 UConn 63-53 on Monday night to conclude the 2020-21 regular season.

Junior forward Camryn Taylor led the Golden Eagles (17-5, 14-4 BIG EAST) with 19 points and six rebounds while Lauren Van Kleunen had 12 points and eight boards. Jordan King joined them in double figures with 11 points. Selena Lott was held to six points but dished out a game-high eight assists.

MU struggled to find its footing in the first quarter, making just four of its 16 shots in the first 10 minutes. Nine quick points from UConn (21-1, 18-0 BIG EAST) freshman Paige Bueckers spearheaded a strong quarter for the Huskies, which led 22-11 after one.

The Golden Eagles started to find their stride in the second quarter, getting a bucket from LVK and a 3-pointer from Liza Karlen to cut UConn's lead to eight at 24-16. A 9-4 run for the Huskies gave them their then-largest lead of the game at 13 points before MU responded with a quick 5-0 run to get back within eight. MU shot 54.5 percent (6/11) in the second quarter and trailed 37-25 at the half. LVK led MU with nine points in the first 20 minutes of play.

MU came out of the gates aggressively once again in the third quarter as four points each from King, Lott and Taylor allowed the Golden Eagles to cut the Huskies lead to seven points at 44-37. UConn punched back with a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 14 before a King jumper and LVK 3-pointer allowed MU to cut the deficit to nine points (51-42) at the end of the third quarter.

The Golden Eagles ran into a cold-shooting stretch in the fourth quarter and UConn stretched its lead to a game-high 15 points with 5:52 remaining. Camryn Taylor scored MU's final 11 points of the game on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor but the Huskies wouldn't allow their opposition to get any closer than 10 points, closing out with a 63-53 win.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa led UConn with 19 points while Aaliyah Edwards had 16 and Paige Bueckers chipped in 13.

POSTGAME NOTES:
-Marquette lost the rebounding battle for just the fourth time in the 54 games of the Coach Duffy era (43 to 25).
-The Golden Eagles held UConn to a tie for their season-low at 63 points.
-The Golden Eagles were only team in the BIG EAST to keep the same starting lineup in every regular season game in 2020-21 (Lott, King, Marotta, Taylor, Van Kleunen).
-MU held UConn to 41.8% (28/67) shooting from the field and 18.8% (3/16) from 3-point range. Those were UConn's fourth and third lowest shooting and 3-point field goal percentages, respectively, in games this season.
-Lauren Van Kleunen (12 points) reached double figures for the 17th time this season and 47th time in her career. She's now 23 points from 1,000 in her career.
-Camryn Taylor (19 points) reached double figures for the 15th time this season and 26th time in her career.
-Lott had three steals to bring her career total to 216, which keeps her at No. 9 all-time at Marquette.
-Lott had eight assists, moving her to 365 in her career. She's one assist behind Allazia Blockton at No. 10 all-time at MU.
-Lott moves past Heidi Bowman into 24th place all-time in scoring at MU. She now has 1,140 points.
-Jordan King (11 points) reached double figures for the 11th time this season and 21st time in her career.

UP NEXT:
Marquette will play in the BIG EAST tournament quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed on Saturday, March 6 at 5 p.m. Central time. MU will play the winner of Providence and Butler.

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).