#MUWBB Edges Creighton, Advances to BIG EAST Final

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - The Marquette women's basketball team defeated the Creighton Bluejays 64-59 in a thrilling BIG EAST tournament semifinal game on Sunday night.

Senior guard Selena Lott scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Golden Eagles (19-5, 14-4 BIG EAST) to their fifth straight BIG EAST tournament championship game. Lauren Van Kleunen added 16 points and six rebounds and passed the 1,000-career point mark in her career with a layup in the first half. Camryn Taylor chipped in 11 points and five boards.

MU started the game strong, going on an 11-3 run in the first 5:20 with all 11 points coming from Lott and LVK. The Bluejays responded with a 10-5 run to cut MU's lead to 16-13 after the first 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles made seven of their first 11 shots while holding Creighton to just 5-of-18 (27.8%), but CU grabbed eight offensive rebounds to earn extra possessions and keep the pressure on MU defensively.

Both teams heated up in the second quarter with MU shooting 44 percent and CU shooting 58 percent. A three-point play from Selena Lott and a bucket from Camryn Taylor gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the half at 21-13 with 7:20 to play. The Bluejays responded with a 12-6 to cut the deficit back to just two points after a string of buckets from DeArica Pryor, Temi Carda and Emma Ronsiek. A late post hook from LVK gave MU a 33-29 lead to end the second quarter.

The Golden Eagles led by as many as six points in the third quarter but just couldn't shake the Bluejays. A transition layup from Taylor Valladay and a second chance bucket from Lott put MU up 45-40 with 1:19 to play in the quarter. However, CU responded with back-to-back buckets to end the quarter and MU's lead was down to just one point heading into the fourth.

MU and CU continued to go back-and-forth in the final 10 minutes of play. After exchanging buckets in the opening minutes of the quarter, Lott hit a 3-pointer and a layup in consecutive possessions to give the Golden Eagles what would be their largest lead of the quarter at six points. The Bluejays cut the lead to four points twice but jumpers from Jordan King and Camryn Taylor pushed the lead back to six points each time. With 1:13 to play and trailing 60-54, CU got a layup, a defensive stop and a 3-pointer from Jayme Horan to cut MU's lead to 60-59 with 29 seconds to play.

The Golden Eagles broke the Bluejays press and eventually were sent to the free throw line to try and ice the game. Lott had two free throws to try and widen MU's lead but went one-of-two and CU got the ball back trailing 61-59 with 13 seconds to play. As CU tried to get their offense set up to try and tie or take the lead, a Morgan Maly pass was deflected by MU junior forward Chloe Marotta and LVK pounced on the loose ball, forcing a tie up. The possession arrow gave the ball back to MU and Van Kleunen iced the game from the free throw line.

Temi Carda led Creighton with 14 points while DeArica Pryor tacked on 13 and Emma Ronsiek had 11.

POSTGAME NOTES:
-Marquette lost the rebounding battle for just the fifth time in the 56 games of the Coach Duffy era (36 to 28).
-The Golden Eagles remained the only team in the BIG EAST to keep the same starting lineup in every game in 2020-21 (Lott, King, Marotta, Taylor, Van Kleunen).
-Lauren Van Kleunen (16 points) reached double figures for the 19th time this season and 49th time in her career. She now has 1,010 career points, becoming the 31st Golden Eagle in team history to reach that mark.
-Camryn Taylor (11 points) reached double figures for the 17th time this season and 28th time in her career.
-Selena Lott (27 points) hit the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season and 13th time in her career.
-Lott had one steal to bring her career total to 218, which keeps her at No. 9 all-time at Marquette.
-Lott remains in 24th place all-time in scoring at MU. She now has 1,174 points. She's two points away from Beth Ayers for 23rd all-time.

UP NEXT:
Marquette will play in the BIG EAST tournament finals on Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m. Central time. MU will play No. 1 UConn in the championship.

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).