WBB Earns Road Win at Illinois State to Stay Undefeated

NORMAL, Ill. – The No. 19/19 Marquette women's basketball team earned a hard-fought road win at Illinois State on Sunday, beating the Redbirds 64-62 in Normal.

The Golden Eagles (9-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) had three in double figures led by Liza Karlen, who had 19 points on 9-of-20 shooting. The senior had nine of her game total in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer at the 3:23 mark that gave MU its first lead since before the half.

Mackenzie Hare and Jordan King, both Illinois natives, had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Illinois State scored the first 11 points of the game, but MU countered with an 18-3 run over the next six minutes for an 18-14 lead after one.

Down by six heading into the final frame, Marquette shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) in the final ten minutes to pull out the win. Seniors Liza Karlen and Jordan King accounted for 15 of MU's 23 points in the fourth quarter.

Illinois State (6-3, 0-0 MVC) had four in double figures led by Maya Wong who had 14 points.

NOTABLES:

Marquette is off to the best start in program history at 9-0.
Golden Eagles improve to 37-11 in non-conference play under Megan Duffy.
First time MU did not lead at halftime this season. Score was tied 34-34.
Marquette is 17-5 in games decided by five points or less under Megan Duffy.
Illinois State led by as many as 11 in the game. The largest deficit MU had faced this season was five points against Boston College.
Marquette tied a season-high with 23 points in the fourth quarter.
Liza Karlen led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season with a game-high 19 points.
Karlen's nine points in the fourth quarter was a season-high for points in the final ten minutes for MU.

UP NEXT:

Marqutte welcomes No. 22 Creighton to the Al McGuire Center on Wednesday, Dec. 13th for the start of BIG EAST play. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. CT and will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports.

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).