#MUWBB Hosts #23 Illinois on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University women's basketball team hosts nationally ranked Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Al McGuire Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. CT.

The Golden Eagles started their 2023-24 campaign on Monday with an 84-51 win over UT Martin. Six players scored in double figures, led by Mackenzie Hare, who had 17 points in her first career start. Skylar Forbes, in her collegiate debut, had 14 points in 16 minutes played.

Five new faces registered their first minutes in the Blue and Gold, including Frannie Hottinger, who earned the start. Lee Volker scored a collegiate career-high 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Rose Nkumu registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, a new career-high. The senior also had three steals, four blocks and four charges drawn.

Liza Karlen had 10 points and 10 rebounds for her 14th double-double of her career. Jordan King was second on the team with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, her 70th time scoring in double figures.

Marquette has an early ranked opportunity with the No. 23 Fighting Illini (1-0, 0-0 BIG TEN), who opened their season Tuesday night with an 81-61 win over Morehead State. Genesis Bryant led the way with a career-high 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting.

The game will be broadcast on FloSports with Bob Brainerd on the call. Live stats will be available on GoMarquette.com.

Keep up with the Marquette women's basketball program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteWBB) and Instagram (@marquettewbb) and `liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWBB).

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI
• Illinois opened its 2023-24 season with an 84-61 win over Morehead State on Tuesday.
• Two players scored in double figures, led by senior guard Genesis Bryant, who had a career-high 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
• Kendall Bostic recorded a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
• The Illini shot 51% from the field, forced 19 turnovers, and registered 38 points in the paint.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST ILLINOIS
• Saturday's meeting will be the eighth all-time versus Illinois.
• Marquette leads the all-time series, 5-2.
• Last matchup came on Dec. 21, 2010, when Marquette beat Illinois at home, 73-56.
• Marquette is 35-54 all-time against Big Ten opponents.

HARE COMES OUT HOT
• Mackenzie Hare earned her first career start Monday for Marquette and finished with a game-high 17 points.
• The sophomore had eight of Marquette's first 10 points.
• It was her ninth career game in double figures and her four assists tied a career-high.

EFFICIENT FIRST GAME FOR FORBES
• Skylar Forbes, in her collegiate debut, scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in just 16 minutes played.
• The freshman subbed in at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter and made a driving layup for her first career points just a minute later.
• Forbes finished second on the team in scoring (14) as the second sub off the bench.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR ROSE
• Rose Nkumu recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists.
• The senior took over the second quarter, scoring seven of her 12 points for the game while also adding two assists before halftime.
• It was her third time scoring in double figures for her career, and her ninth career game with 5+ assists.
• Nkumu also had four blocks (career-high), three steals and drew four charges.