WBB Defeates Ball State 93-70 in WNIT First Round

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (22-10, 13-7 BIG EAST) won in the first round of the Postseason WNIT, defeating Ball State 93-70 Wednesday night at the Al McGuire Center.

"We're just thrilled to get our first tournament win of the WNIT in front of our fans and home crowd, I thought we had a lot of great contributors tonight," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "We scored the basketball really well, and we're thrilled to play Purdue on Monday."

In a game which the Golden Eagles never trailed, they used efficient shooting and dominant rebounding to extend their season and secure a second-round matchup with Purdue. Marquette shot 48.6 percent (36-of-74) from the floor while out-rebounding Ball State 51-30.

In one of the most dominant statistical games of her career, senior forward Chloe Marotta scored a season-high 19 points to go along with a career-high 17 rebounds. Karissa McLaughlin and Lauren Van Kleunen paced Marquette's scoring efforts, finishing with 24 and 20 points, respectively, just the third time this season multiple MU players have scored 20-plus in the same game.

Marquette moved the ball with efficiency as well, recording 24 assists on 36 made shots, led by Jordan King's seven. It scored at least 20 points in all four quarters, including 49 second-half points.

With the win, the Golden Eagles will advance to the WNIT second round where they will face Purdue, who defeated Southern Illinois tonight 82-60 to advance. That game will take place Monday, March 21 at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Al McGuire Center.

Ball State (20-13, 11-8 MAC) was led by Ally Becki, who finished with 22 points.

Chloe Marotta recorded her fourth double-double of the season and the sixth of her career, finishing with a season-high 19 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
This was the 11th time Marotta has finished with 10-plus rebounds in a game.
Liza Karlen recorded the seventh double-double of her career, all seven of which have come this season. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Karissa McLaughlin scored a game-high 24 points, the 20th 20-plus point scoring performance of her career.
Lauren Van Kleunen scored 20 points, the 13th 20-plus point scoring performance of her career.
The Golden Eagles recorded 33 fast break points while limiting Ball State to just six.
This was the third time this season MU has had multiple 20-plus point scorers.
Marquette never trailed in the contest, leading for 38:04 of action.
With the win, Marquette is now 3-1 all-time against Ball State.
Marquette has now advanced past the first round in eight of its 10 all-time WNIT appearances.
With the win, Marquette is now 15-9 all-time in WNIT games, with an 8-2 tournament record at home.

UP NEXT: Marquette will host Purdue in the second round of the WNIT on Monday, March 21 ast 7 p.m. inside the Al McGuire Center. 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).