WBB Returns to Action Friday at Creighton

Full Notes (PDF)

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (9-3, 2-1 BIG EAST) returns to BIG EAST play this week for its first game in over two weeks as it travels to Omaha, Nebraska, to face Creighton (9-3, 4-0 BIG EAST) on Friday, Jan. 7. The game is set to tip at 6:30 p.m. (CT) at the D.J. Sokol Arena, and will be broadcast by BEDN on FloHoops with Josh Peterson (play-by-play) and Rob Simms (analyst) on the call. Live stats are available at GoMarquette.com.

The Golden Eagles are off to a 9-3 start to the 2021-22 campaign, including a 2-1 record in conference play. Marquette earned a win in its final non-conference matchup on Dec. 22, defeating Cincinnati, 60-49. MU was slated to face UConn on Dec. 29, but the game was canceled due to COVID health and safety precautions.

Creighton enters the contest atop the league standings with a 9-3 overall record and a perfect 4-0 mark against BIG EAST opponents. The Bluejays have won three-straight and eight of their last nine contests, most recently posting a 67-51 road win over Xavier on Jan. 2. Creighton had a Dec. 31 contest against Butler canceled due to COVID as well.

The Bluejays narrowly lead the all-time series against Marquette, 14-12, but MU has won the previous four meetings. The teams met up three times last season, including a 64-59 win for Marquette in the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Tournament.

Creighton is led in scoring this season by sophomore forward Emma Ronsiek, who is averaging 13.4 points per game. The Bluejays are led by Jim Flanery, Creighton's all-time victory leader in his 20th season with the program.

SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS

• Creighton enters the contest with a 9-3 overall record including a league-best 4-0 mark in BIG EAST matchups.

• The Bluejays have won three-straight games and eight of their past nine, with conference wins over Georgetown, Villanova, Providence and Xavier.

• Creighton has posted one of the league's most impressive turnarounds, already just one win away from matching last season's win total. Last year, the Bluejays went 10-12 overall with a 6-7 record in BIG EAST play.

• The Bluejays are 6-1 at home this season.

• Sophomore forward Emma Ronsiek is the team's top statistical performer this season, averaging a team-best 13.4 points to go along with 4.4 boards per game. Senior guard Tatum Rembao leads the squad and ranks third in the conference with 5.5 assists per contest.

• Creighton ranks fifth nationally in assists per game (19.6) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49).

ALL-TIME SERIES CREIGHTON

• Friday's game will mark the 27th all-time meeting between Marquette and Creighton, a series which spans back to 1986.

• The Bluejays lead a close all-time series, 14-12.

• MU has won four-straight and eight of the past 11 meetings.

• The teams faced off three times last season, including a meeting in the BIG EAST semifinals, a 64-59 Marquette win.

STARTING FIVE

• The Golden Eagles are 29-9 in conference action under Coach Duffy.

• Coach Duffy is off to the best coaching start through three seasons of any coach in program history. She boasts a 52-18 overall mark (.743) at Marquette.

• The Golden Eagles are 42-1 under Coach Duffy when leading at halftime and 29-2 when they turn the ball over fewer times than their opponent.

• MU is 28-3 when scoring more than 70 points under Coach Duffy and 35-4 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.

• In the 70 games of the Coach Duffy era, the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponent in 60 of those games (47-13 record).

KARLEN STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE

• After coming off the bench to appear in 24 games in a reserve role in 2020-21, sophomore guard Liza Karlen has become an important contributor as a starter for the Golden Eagles.

• Just 12 games in, Karlen has now played more total minutes this season (294) than she did all of last year (268).

• Karlen has more than doubled her scoring and rebounding averages from a season ago, while making 10 starts and averaging 24.6 minutes per game this year.

• She is coming off back-to-back-to-back double-figure scoring games, and went for the second double-double of her career at Seton Hall (11 points, 10 rebounds).

THE MCLAUGHLIN EFFECT

• Marquette brought in guard Karissa McLaughlin as a graduate transfer during the offseason with hopes that she could make an immediate impact, and that's exactly what she has done so far.

• McLaughlin, Purdue's all-time leading 3-point shooter, is having the best shooting season of her career, shooting an incredibly efficient 44.3 percent (31-of-70) from 3-point range.

• With 275 career triples, she currently ranks 11th among active Division I players.

• McLaughlin has a team-best four 20+ point games this season, including a season-high 26 points last time out against Seton Hall, where she finished 6-of-10 from behind the arc.

• She currently sits just 35 points from reaching the 1,500-point career plateau.

RAIN CHECK

• Marquette was slated to play at #11/11 UConn on Wednesday, Dec. 29, a contest which was canceled due to COVID health and safety protocols.

• The game was declared a no contest, and per the BIG EAST game cancellation policy, the conference office will attempt to reschedule the game.

LAST TIME OUT

• Marquette posted a 60-49 win over Cincinnati on Dec. 22 at the Al McGuire Center.

• The Golden Eagles used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to pull away for the victory while shooting 8-of-17 in the frame.

• MU was led by a season-high 18 points from Jordan King, who was joined in double-figures by Lauren Van Kleunen (13) and Liza Karlen (10).

• Cincinnati was held to 29.7 percent (19-of-64) shooting from the floor.