March 24, 2006

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MILWAUKEE -- Led by junior Christina Quaye - who registered her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds - Marquette overcame a second half scoring drought late in the game to defeat Indiana, 57-54, in the WNIT Quarterfinal game tonight at the Al McGuire Center.

Senior Carolyn Kieger added eight points and tallied four assists, setting a new MU career assist record. The senior point guard now has 690 career helpers, breaking Joan Pitrof's mark of 689. With the win, the Golden Eagles advance to meet BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh in the semifinals on Monday, March 27 at the Al McGuire Center.

"This is a really exciting time for our program," said head coach Terri Mitchell. "Our players played with energy and passion. Give Indiana credit, they played gutsy and we knew we it was going to be a 40 minute ball game. It's about being willing to win, refusing to lose and making the big plays down the stretch.

After being held scoreless for over six minutes in the second half, the Golden Eagles finished the game shooting 37.7% for the game, connecting on 20-of-53 shots from the floor. Freshman Krystal Ellis led the Golden Eagles with 15 points, shooting 6-for-13 from the field - including 3-of-7 from behind the arc. As a whole, all but three Golden Eagles registered in the scoring column, making a balanced scoring effort for Marquette.

In the first half, Ellis led the Golden Eagles with eight points, helping pace Marquette to 47.6% shooting from the field, while the Golden Eagles defense held the Hoosiers to just 33.3 percent from the floor.

A 9-1 run midway through the first stanza gave Marquette an early nine-point advantage, at 17-8. The Hoosiers responded with a 5-0 short-lived run of their own before back-to-back treys from Ellis and sophomore Svetlana Kovalenko and free throws from junior Danielle Kamm gave Marquette its largest lead of the game, - at 25-15 - with just under seven minutes left in the first. Indiana answered with consecutive treys of its own to inch within four points, 25-21, but the Golden Eagle defense gave up four points by the half and went into the locker room with a seven-point lead, 32-25. Kieger's assist of Ellis' three pointer with 2:35 in the first half tied Pitrof's all-time assists record with 689.

But the Golden Eagles would not be denied. Junior Jasmine McCullough converted a traditional three-point play, putting MU back up for good, at, 44-42, with 4:50 left in the game.

"I don't know (about being held scoreless for six minutes) except that Indiana took it up a notch," Mitchell said. "We just kept talking about playing with confidence. It was the same thing that happened at Iowa State, they took the lead and we just stepped up and took the shot. It was so fresh that we didn't panic."

Ellis made her first steal of the game and help set up a a Kieger layup, drawing another three-point play and helping the Golden Eagles take a five-point advantage, 47-42 with 4:24 left in the game.

Quaye added another bucket and Ellis gave Marquette a seven-point lead from Kieger, who with her assist set the new all-time assists record, and put Marquette ahead, 51-44.

"I was trying not to think about it. We wanted to win," said Kieger. "I would rather have won and keep playing than get the record. Getting the record was fun and that play with Krystal was a fast break.

"I saw her looking at me and I just wanted to finish it and help her get the record," added Ellis.

After Ellis from deep left corner, Indiana responded with one of its own to come within five points, 54-49, with just under two minutes to play.

The two teams traded buckets to put the score at 56-54 in favor of Marquette, but Quaye drew another foul with 11 seconds remaining and connected on her second shot and sealing the win for the Golden Eagles, 57-54. It was just the second time this season the Golden Eagles have been victorious when scoring less than 60 points for the game.

The Golden Eagles will meet Pittsburgh in the semifinals of the WNIT on Monday night at the Al McGuire Center at 7 p.m. Marquette defeated the Panthers in their previous meeting at "The Al" on January 18, 71-62.

"The benefits of the WNIT are unbelievable. That crowd was amazing. This is the place to be." said Mitchell. "We are happy to be playing a BIG EAST team on Monday, but more importantly we get to keep playing. It is an advantage to know a team, but obviously they are playing and we are playing well. We are just excited for monday night."

"We are having fun. We are all having fun. I think it has little to do with x's and o's and just having a ton of heart."