Marquette University
9-2,2-1Big East
Butler
5-6,0-3Big East
WBB Defeats Butler 67-46 Sunday Afternoon
12/18/2022 4:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Golden Eagles remain at perfect at home behind Nkumu's 15-point performance
MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (9-2, 2-1 BIG EAST) picked up a win in its BIG EAST home opener Sunday afternoon, defeating Butler 67-46 inside of the Al McGuire Center.
"It's really great to be back on the court after a week off for finals, our team has been locked in to their studies so it was good to be here playing a game," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "Butler is much improved from last year with their new coaching staff and I thought we had to be really on our toes today to be good defensively."
Marquette used an evenly spread offensive attack and a dominant performance in the post to help secure the win. Four different Golden Eagles finished in double-figures, led by junior guard Rose Nkumu's game-high 15 points, while MU outscored the Bulldogs 46-20 in the paint.
After an even start to the contest, the Golden Eagles closed out the first quarter on a 10-2 run to gain some separation, then carried that momentum into the second quarter. After the first two quarters, MU held a 34-24 advantage.
Marquette came out of the locker room strong, opening the third quarter with 12-straight points to expand its lead to 22 points. That lead would eventually balloon to as many as 30 midway through the fourth in a game that MU led for all but four minutes.
Along with Nkumu, Chloe Marotta (12), Jordan King (10) and Liza Karlen (10) each finished with 10-plus points, while Karlen also brought down a game-high 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year.
On the glass, Marquette held a 39-25 rebounding advantage while limiting Butler to just two offensive boards on the afternoon.
The Bulldogs (5-6, 0-3 BIG EAST) were led by Jessica Carrothers, who finished with a team-best 14 points.
-
At the 8:24 mark of the second quarter, Jordan King dished out the 400th assist of her career. She is just the 10th Marquette player in program history to hit that milestone.
-
King became just the eighth player in MU history with 1,000 points and 400 assists in a career.
-
Rose Nkumu fell just one point shy of her scoring career-high, finishing with a game-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. She also led the team with three steals.
-
Liza Karlen finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. This was her fourth double-double of the season, and the 12th of her career.
-
All 12 active Marquette players saw action in the game, as the bench combined to contribute 16 points.
-
Marquette forced 20 turnovers with 12 steals, scoring 23 points off of turnovers.
-
For the first time since at least the 2009-10 season, Marquette did not take a single free throw in the game.
-
Marquette finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the floor and 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from 3-point range.
-
With the win, Marquette is now 6-0 at home this season.
-
With the win, Marquette is now 19-9 against Butler, with six-straight wins and victories in 15 of the past 17 meetings.
-
With the win, Coach Duffy is now 42-17 at Marquette against BIG EAST opponents.
UP NEXT: Marquette remains at home for its final non-conference game of the campaign, hosting Colorado on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FloHoops with streaming and live stat links 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).
