Nov. 27, 2009

Box Score

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CANCUN, Mexico - Poor shooting doomed the Marquette women's basketball team as it fell to No. 10/12 Duke, 74-43, in the finale of the Caribbean Challenge Friday night at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

The loss puts Marquette at 4-2 overall, while Duke wins its fourth straight and improves to 5-1 overall.

Jasmine Thomas led Duke with her first career triple double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. The Blue Devils had three others with double figure points in Bridgette Mitchell (13), Krystal Thomas (12) and Joy Cheek (11).

For the game, Duke shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the floor, while Marquette connected on 25 percent of its attempts (17-of-68).

Senior Lauren Thomas-Johnson was the lone Golden Eagle to score in double figures with 13 points. Sophomore Jessica Pachko recorded 10 rebounds as Marquette out-rebounded Duke, 46-43, including 22 offensive boards.

With the score tied at 9-9 with 10:17 remaining in the first half, Duke went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, and then pushed that lead to 13 points (24-11) with 3:15 left in the first.

Thomas-Johnson sparked a mini 5-0 run with a three-pointer from the corner, but the Blue Devils went on to score the final five points of the half taking a 29-16 advantage into the intermission.

Duke opened the second half with a 6-0 run before junior Paige Fiedorowicz scored a jumper in the paint for MU's first points of the half at the 17:44 mark. Following that basket, the Blue Devils jumped on another 6-0 run to go ahead 41-18 with 15:47 left in the game.

Pachko, junior Angel Robinson and sophomore Georgie Jones gave Marquette some life with combining for nine points to put the score at 52-35, with 8:48 left to play, but that was the closest Marquette came for the remainder of the game.

The Golden Eagles will be back at home on Thursday, Dec. 3 when they host New Jersey Institute of Technology at the Al McGuire Center at 7 p.m.