The first ten minutes of the 2011 Paradise Jam went well for Coach Terri Mitchell's squad. Marquette built a 12-5 lead by the 11:47 mark and things seemed to be going well. But 4 turnovers before they scored another point let Washington State back into the game, and 2 more turnovers gave the Cougars a lead they would hold onto until Margeaux Dupuy drained a triple with 53 seconds left in the half. Dupuy's bucket tied things at 29, which is where it would stay at half.
The good news is that while Marquette committed 14 first half turnovers, they were able to keep the game tied, and even better, they cut down on the turnovers in the second half.
The bad news is that Marquette went stone cold in the second half. After shooting 52.2% in the first half, the Golden Eagles shot 31% in the second half, lowlighted by a goose egg from Sarina Simmons on 5 shots. To make it even worse, Arlesia Morse hit the first two shots of the half, both threes, to give Marquette a quick 6 point lead. The misses didn't even start to affect Marquette until there was less than 10 minutes left in the game, as Chelsie Butler hit a layup with 9:58 remaining to pull Marquette within 2. Washington State went on a 20-9 run to close out the game.
Marquette looks to avoid going below .500 with a 4:45pm game today against Prairie View A&M.
After the jump: Four Factors, Awards, and whimsy!
Four Factors:
eFG%: WSU - 47.4% Marquette - 38.7%
OReb%: WSU - 33.3% Marquette - 38.9%
TO%: WSU - 19.2% Marquette - 29.6%
FT Rate: WSU - 27.1% Marquette - 22.6
Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block is usually enough to win it for you, so this game's award goes to Chelsie Butler.
Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: When you play 12 minutes, chip in 6 points and a steal and only account for one of your team's 29 turnovers, you qualify as undersung. Margueax Dupuy, this one's for you.
Whimsy: How about an octopus traversing dry land?