WBB Falls to Toledo in Postseason WNIT Third Round

MILWAUKEE — The Marquette women's basketball team (23-11, 13-7 BIG EAST) saw its season come to an end Thursday night with a 92-82 loss to Toledo in the third round of the Postseason WNIT.

"It's always hard when you don't get to go to practice tomorrow and your season is over, so obviously I'm very disappointed," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "It was an emotional group in the locker room, but as their coach I'm just extremely proud. Playing in this tournament, we had a chance to get better these last couple weeks."

Despite efficient shooting by the Golden Eagles and a career-high 28-point performance by senior forward Chloe Marotta, MU was unable to keep up with Toledo's high-powered offensive attack as the Rockets made 57.1 percent (32-of-56) of their shots in the contest.

Toledo came out firing, making four of its first five 3-pointers to jump out to a 19-10 lead at the first media timeout, but MU was able to claw back and close the lead to just three at the half. Marquette used a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to take its first lead of the contest at 66-64, but with three starters in foul trouble down the stretch it was outscored 22-8 in the final quarter.

Playing all 40 minutes in the final contest of her collegiate career, graduate guard Karissa McLaughlin finished with 16 points and a season-high nine assists. Despite being limited to just 25 minutes with foul trouble, sophomore forward Liza Karlen posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards.

Toledo (29-5, 19-1 MAC) was led by Quinesha Lockett, who finished with a game-high 37 points.

This was the third-career 20-plus point game for Chloe Marotta, and her first of the season.
Karissa McLaughlin recorded a season-high nine assists.
Liza Karlen finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the eighth double-double of her career, all eight coming this season.
Karlen fouled out at the 1:19 mark of the fourth quarter.
At the 9:28 mark of the second quarter, Lauren Van Kleunen recorded the 800th rebound of her college career. She is the ninth player in MU history with 800 career boards.
At the 2:40 mark of the fourth quarter, Van Kleunen scored the 1,500th point of her college career. She is the 13th player in MU history with 1,500 career points.
Van Kleunen is the sixth ever Marquette player with 1,500 points and 800 rebounds in a career.
Van Kleunen moved past Erika Davenport (2015-19) on Marquette's all-time scoring list. She concludes her career 13th in program history with 1,501 points.

Marquette won the rebounding battle 34-31. It outrebounded its opponent in 28 of 34 games this season.
Marquette finished the game shooting 45.3 percent (34-of-75) from the floor, 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from behind the arc and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free throw line.
With the loss, Marquette is now 16-10 all-time in WNIT games, with a 9-3 tournament record at home.
With the loss, Marquette finishes the year with a 15-3 record at the Al McGuire Center.

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