WBB Opens 2023 at DePaul on Wednesday

CHICAGO — The Marquette women's basketball team (9-5, 2-3 BIG EAST) looks to open 2023 on a strong note this week as it hits the road to face DePaul (10-5, 3-1 BIG EAST) on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The Golden Eagles and the Blue Demons will tip-off at 7 p.m. (CT) from Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The game will be broadcast by BIG EAST Digital Network on FloHoops, with Matt Menzl (play-by-play), Patricia Babcock-McGraw (analyst) and Kacy Standohar (sideline) on the call. Links to stream and live stats are available on GoMarquette.com.

In the team's most recent outing on Saturday, Marquette dropped a BIG EAST road battle at No. 8 UConn, 61-48. The Golden Eagles were unable to overcome a slow offensive start, despite holding one of the nation's top offenses to just 61 points in the outing. Junior forward Liza Karlen led the squad with 15 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds, while freshman guard Emily La Chapell scored 11.

The Blue Demons enter the contest with a 10-5 overall record, after getting off to a 3-1 start to BIG EAST play with wins over Butler, Georgetown and Providence. Most recently, it suffered a 92-82 home loss to No. 21 Creighton on Saturday.

DePaul is led statistically by 2022 National Freshman of the Year Aneesah Morrow who averages 26.3 points per game, fourth in the NCAA. She also leads the squad with 11.9 rebounds per outing. Junior guard Darrione Rogers averages a team-best 5.9 assists per contest.

DePaul is Marquette's most-played rival, the teams having met up 82 times. DePaul holds a 49-33 advantage in the series, though Marquette has won three of the past four. Last season, Marquette won in Milwaukee 88-85 in overtime, then fell 77-66 in Chicago. MU then eliminated DePaul's from the BIG EAST Tournament with a 105-85 victory in the quarterfinals.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS

• DePaul enters Wednesday's contest with a 10-5 overall record and a 3-1 start to BIG EAST play with wins over Butler, Georgetown and Providence.

• In 2021-22 the Blue Demons qualified for the NCAA Tournament after a 22-11 campaign and a 14-6 mark in league play to finish fifth in the BIG EAST.

• DePaul is 5-3 at home this season.

• The team has been led statistically by 2022 National Freshman of the Year Aneesah Morrow who averages 26.3 points per game, fourth in the NCAA. She also leads the squad with 11.9 rebounds per outing. Junior guard Darrione Rogers averages a team-best 5.9 assists per contest.

• As a team, the Blue Demons lead the conference with 15.7 offensive rebounds and 25.5 3-point attempts per game. They have the second-highest scoring offense in the league, averaging 79.1 points per outing.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST DEPAUL

• Wednesday's meeting will be the 83rd all-time between Marquette and DePaul, a series which began in 1978. This is the most-played rivalry in MU's program history.

• DePaul leads the all-time series 49-33, though Marquette has won three of the past four meetings.

• Last season the teams each won on their own courts, MU posting an 88-85 overtime victory in Milwaukee and DePaul posting a 77-66 victory in Chicago. When they met in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals, the Golden Eagles earned a 105-85 route.

STARTING FIVE

• The Golden Eagles are 42-19 against BIG EAST opponents under Coach Duffy.

• Coach Duffy is off to the best coaching start through four seasons of any coach in program history. She boasts a 75-31 overall mark (.701) at Marquette.

• The Golden Eagles are 63-3 under Coach Duffy when leading at halftime and 46-7 when they turn the ball over the same or fewer times than their opponent.

• MU is 42-4 when scoring more than 70 points under Coach Duffy and 50-5 when shooting more free throws than its opponent.

• In the 106 games of the Coach Duffy era, the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponent 86 times.

LA CHAPELL NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

• After a pair of strong performances against RV Villanova and at No. 8 UConn last week, guard Emily La Chapell was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.

• The Appleton, Wisconsin, native averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from 3-point range and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the field on the week.

• In the second start of her career against UConn on Saturday, La Chapell went for 11 points, five boards and two steals in a career-high 37 minutes of action.

• She is the first MU freshman to earn this honor since Jordan King on March 2, 2020.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE

• Along with excellent rebounding and ball movement, strong defensive effort has become one of the trademarks of a Coach Duffy team at Marquette.

• The Golden Eagles are allowing just 57.6 points per game this season, second fewest of any BIG EAST team.

• Marquette has held eight of its 15 opponents this year under 60 points, while allowing over 80 points just once.

• Additionally, MU is holding opponents to just 37.6 percent shooting from the floor, while forcing an average of 16.6 turnovers per contest.

MISS MARQUETTE

• In her fifth and final year at Marquette, senior forward Chloe Marotta continues to climb several all-time program record lists.

• Currently tied with two other players for third in all-time games played with 131, Marotta sits just three games behind second all time. Her former teammate, Lauren Van Kleunen, holds the all-time mark with 160 appearances in the blue and gold.

• Marotta also continues to move up the all-time rebounding leaderboard with 736. She is currently just 32 boards from moving into the program's top-10.

UP NEXT FOR MU

• The Golden Eagles remain on the road to close out a three-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Omaha, Nebraska, to face Creighton on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. CT.

• The game will be broadcast by BIG EAST Digital Network on FloHoops, with links to the stream and live stats available on GoMarquette.com.