Marquette University
21-9,13-7Big East
St. John's
22-8,13-7Big East
WBB Defeats St. John's in BIG EAST Quarterfinals
3/4/2023 4:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Golden Eagles will face No. 9 UConn tomorrow at 2 p.m.
UNCASVILLE, Connecticut — The Marquette women's basketball team (21-9, 13-7 BIG EAST) defeated St. John's in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal round Saturday afternoon, earning a 57-47 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena.
"What a great game by our team. I thought just our grit and toughness throughout the 40 minutes was really impressive," said Marquette head coach Megan Duffy. "That fourth quarter, our defensive effort really changed the trajectory of the game. When you play a team for the third time, you're trying some new things. I'm just so proud of our grit."
The Golden Eagles used a late surge and big scoring performances from Chloe Marotta, Jordan King and Liza Karlen to secure the win, as the trio combined for 50 points in the contest. Marquette will now advance to the BIG EAST Semifinal round for the seventh-straight year, where it will face No. 9 UConn tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT.
After getting off to a quick 9-4 deficit early in the contest, the Golden Eagles responded with a 12-0 run. The first half was back-and-forth the rest of the way, with Marquette taking a 26-24 lead into the locker room at the break.
The next 16 minutes remained nearly even, neither side leading by more than three at any point until Marquette strung together a 10-0 run to open up a double-digit lead and remained on top the rest of the way. The Johnnies were limited to just six points on 30 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.
Marotta led MU in both scoring and rebounding, going for 18 points and 14 boards, while King and Karlen finished with 16 points apiece. Marquette's starters each played at least 32 minutes and scored all 57 of the team's points.
St. John's was paced by Mimi Reid, who finished with 11 points.
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Chloe Marotta posted a 18-point, 14-rebound double-double, leading the squad in both categories. This was her ninth double-double of the season, and the 15th of her career.
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Liza Karlen went for 16 points, her 15th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 34th of her career.
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Jordan King also scored 16 points, her 25th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 68th of her career.
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King moved up a spot on Marquette's all-time assist leaderboard. She now ranks fifth all-time, passing Amani Wilborn (2015-19). In her career, King has 474 helpers.
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Marquette's starters combined to play 181 of a possible 200 minutes, while King played all 40. The starting unit scored all of MU's points.
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Marquette forced 15 St. John's turnovers, led by a three-steal performance by Rose Nkumu.
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Marquette won the rebounding battle 34-26.
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With the win, Marquette will play in its seventh-straight BIG EAST Semifinal appearances. It faced UConn in last year's semifinal round as well.
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Marquette has won and advanced to the title game in five of the previous six semifinal appearances.
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Marquette finished the game shooting 42.0 percent (19-of-50) from the floor, 11.1 percent (1-of-11) from 3-point range and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the free throw line.
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With the win, Marquette is now 22-11 all-time against St. John's, and has won 12 of past 14 meetings.
UP NEXT: Marquette will face 1-seed and BIG EAST regular season champion No. 9 UConn tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT in the semifinal round at Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be broadcast on FS1, with a live stat link 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).
