Karlen scores 19, No. 23 Marquette women use hot start to defeat DePaul 78-47

Jan 14, 2024, 04:22 am

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- — Liza Karlen scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and No. 23 Marquette dominated inside to roll to a 78-47 win over DePaul on Saturday night.

The Golden Eagles shot 57% (32 of 56), had a 39-28 edge in rebounding and a 44-18 advantage in points in the paint. The inside-points edge in the first half was 22-2. The Golden Eagles took a 38-18 lead into halftime despite a long cold stretch to close out the second quarter.

Jordan King had 16 points for Marquette (15-2, 4-2 Big East Conference) and Rose Nkumu scored 12 with nine assists.

Shakara McCline had 13 points for the Blue Demons (9-9, 1-4) and Anaya Peoples had 10. DePaul shot 27% and had 20 turnovers.

Karlen had 10 points in the first quarter when the Golden Eagles sank 10 of 17 shots to race to a 24-9 lead.

McCline stopped an 8-0 Marquette run by closing the first quarter with a 3-pointer and hit another to open the second. But the Golden Eagles went on a 12-0 run for a 36-12 lead.

The second 3-pointer was DePaul's last basket of the half as the Blue Demons followed up 3-of-16 shooting in the first quarter with a 1-for-13 effort in the second, shooting 14% for the half. However, Marquette only had one basket after taking the 24-point lead and didn't score for the final 3:41. That still left the Golden Eagles at 52%.

The Golden Eagles rediscovered their shooting touch in the third quarter, making 9 of 14 shots, including three 3s, to stretch the lead to 61-33.

Marquette plays at Villanova on Wednesday. Xavier is at DePaul on Tuesday.

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