WBB Opens Season with 75-47 Win Over Fairleigh Dickinson

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) opened up its 2022-23 campaign with a 75-47 win over Fairleigh Dickinson Monday afternoon inside of the Al McGuire Center.

"It's great to start off the college basketball season with a win today," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "It was a loud environment with some of the loudest timeouts I've been a part of. It was great to see our Milwaukee Public Schools in the building. Overall, I love that the youth were having fun today, and obviously we were as well and we won the game."

In front of over 2,800 children from local elementary schools, the Golden Eagles put on a show. Led by dominant individual performances from the duo of senior guard Jordan King and junior forward Liza Karlen, the Marquette started the year off on the right foot with a dominant victory over last season's NEC regular season champs. King went off for a career-high 24 points to go along with eight assists, six steals and three boards.

Marquette got off to a strong start with a personal 6-0 run out of the gates by Karlen, who would go on to post a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Knights answered, taking a 17-16 lead into the first quarter break, but it was all Marquette the rest of the way. The Golden Eagles won the second quarter 23-9, and out-scored FDU 59-30 through the final three periods.

A handful of newcomers made their MU debuts, including freshman guard Emily La Chapell and senior guard Nia Clark, who each started the contest. Freshmen Mackenzie Hare and Charia Smith also saw their first collegiate action.

The Golden Eagles had a strong outing on the glass, outrebounding FDU in the contest 43-23. They also forced 19 turnovers on 12 steals, led by a career high-tying six from King.

The Knights (0-1, 0-0 NEC) were led by Ella Fajardo, who scored a team-high 16 points. Chloe Wilson led the squad on the glass with five rebounds.

Nia Clark, who joined the team in the offseason as a transfer from Xavier, scored her first points in a Marquette uniform on a layup at the 5:13 mark of the second quarter.
Freshman Mackenzie Hare scored the first points of her college career on a 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Liza Karlen tied her career high with four blocks.
Liza Karlen finished the contest with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. This was the ninth double-double of her career, and her sixth in the past eight games.
Jordan King finished with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, and tied her career high of six steals.
With the win, Marquette is now 30-18 all-time in season openers. It has now won five-straight and 17 of its past 20.
Marquette won the rebounding battle 43-23. Under Coach Duffy, MU has outrebounded opponents in 78 of 93 total games.
Marquette outscored FDU in the paint 38-20.
Marquette finished the game shooting 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the floor, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line.
FDU's Chloe Wilson fouled out of the game with 3:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.
With the win, Marquette is now 1-0 all-time against FDU and 7-1 all-time against current NEC teams.

UP NEXT: Marquette will remain at home to take on Holy Cross on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. inside of the Al McGuire Center. The game will be streamed on FloHoops, with live stats and streaming information will be available on GoMarquette.com.

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).