Things started out strong for Terri Mitchell's crew in Green Bay. Despite some shooting struggles (eFG of 38.1%) and some turnover troubles (11), Marquette forced 15 UWGB turnovers, including 5 steals by Katherine Plouffe, and drew 13 fouls, leading to 12-16 FT shooting in the first half. The fouls led to every Phoenix that played more than 8 minutes in the first half having 2 fouls. So despite being down by 1 at the half, things looked encouraging for Marquette to sneak out a win against a top 25 opponent.
Unfortunately, UWGB was able to stop turning the ball over, the fouls evened out in the second half, and Sarina Simmons played just 5 minutes in the second half, checking out for the last time with 7:07 remaining and Marquette trailing by 6. From there, the Phoenix went on a 15-5 run to end the game as Marquette shot 2-7 and committed 5 turnovers.
Marquette falls to 4-4 on the season while UWGB improves to 6-0.
Notes:
- The first half was about as ugly as you could expect with the teams combining for 26 turnovers.
- Not quite sure what's going on with Sarina Simmons. She returned to the starting lineup, but after missing her five first half shots while playing 15 minutes in the first half, she missed the only shot she took and only played 5 minutes in the second half. She did have a large soft brace on one leg, which I don't distinctly remember seeing on Tuesday. On the plus side, she did grab 8 rebounds, which is a great number regardless of how many minutes she played.
- MU missed all 13 of their 3 point attempts in the game. Arlesia Morse was the biggest offender, missing all six of her tries, and 4 of Simmons' 6 attempts were from behind the arc.
- ESPN.com continues to be run by goofballs. After getting Jake Thomas and Juan Anderson into games that they weren't eligible to play in earlier this season on the men's side, they had Lauren Tibbs in the game in the first half. Not so much, as it turns out. Tibbs was on the bench in the same gray warmups as her partner in injury, Courtney Thomas.
- Marquette held UWGB to 0.98 points per possession. That's a positive. You're going to have a lot of chances to win if you're holding teams under a point per possession. What you have to do in those cases is get more than 0.74 PPP on your end, which is what happened to the Golden Eagles here.
After the jump: Four Factors, Awards, and Whimsy!
Four Factors:
eFG%: Marquette - 38.1% UWGB - 51.9%
Turnover%: Marquette - 32.6% UWGB - 28.1%
OReb: Marquette - 25.8% UWGB - 37.8%
FT Rate: Marquette - 57.1% UWGB - 37.7%
Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: Pretty easy to pick Katherine Plouffe here. Led MU in points with 15 on 7-8 shooting, snagged 5 rebounds, and grabbed 6 steals while playing 37 minutes.
Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: Slim pickings here, but we'll go with Apiew Ojulu, who made the most of UWGB's fouls by hitting 8 of 9 free throw attempts in the first half. UWGB didn't really stop fouling in the 2nd half, but they did get smart and stopped fouling Ojulu, as she went 1-2 in the second half.
Whimsy: GQ bought a clue and sat down for a Q&A with Tom Haverford's best bud and business partner, Jean-Ralphio. The only possible title? What Would Jean-Ralphio Do?
Up Next: Marquette returns to action on Sunday afternoon against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-5).