Marquette Women’s Basketball Makes Short Work Of Longwood

Four Golden Eagles scored in double figures as Marquette blew out Longwood, 87-37, in their season opener on Friday night.

If this game wasn’t over when Marquette led 25-12 after the first quarter, it was definitely over when Longwood didn’t score - not didn’t have a field goal, didn’t score - until there was 73 seconds left in the second quarter. That layup by Dayna Rouse cut the Marquette lead to a mere 30 points at 44-14.

I don’t think I really have much more to say about this one. Oh, no, wait, I have one more thing: Marquette held Longwood to 0.50 points per possession. As easy of a win this was for the Golden Eagles to move to 1-0 on the season, it’s incredibly unlikely that MU will be able to repeat this defensive performance ever again this season.

Head coach Carolyn Kieger used her bench liberally in this game, with no one playing more than 24 minutes. Allazia Blockton was one of two players to play 24 minutes, and she still managed to find time for a game high 19 points along with four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Erika Davenport might have put up the best line of the night, combining 18 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of the season for Marquette.

The official Marquette recap of the game says “every available player saw action” in the game. What they’re alluding to but not openly discussing is the fact that redshirt junior Chelsey Gibson and freshman Lauren Van Kleunen were not dressed to play on Friday night. Gibson is recovering a knee injury that kept her out of action all of last season, so it is reasonable to think that she’s either still rehabbing a bit or merely just sitting this one out because Longwood was not going to present much of a threat to Marquette. It’s unclear what was keeping Van Kleunen out, as she didn’t appear to have any kind of significant injury.

Here’s some highlights, and I say “some” because this could go way longer than 2 and a half minutes, courtesy of GoMarquette.com.

Up Next: Marquette returns to the court on Tuesday when they host St. Francis (PA). The Red Flash get their season started on Sunday afternoon when they visit Wisconsin. SFU was picked to finish third in the NEC this season, although they did pick up one first place vote.