RV Marquette Storms Past IUPUI

For about 12 minutes on Wednesday night, it seemed like Marquette women’s basketball might be in for a hard time on the road against IUPUI in front of 439 people in Indianapolis. MU needed two free throws with 18 seconds left in the first quarter to end the frame with a 17-15 lead, and as the clock hit 8:00 in the second quarter, the only points that had been added was one free throw from Marquette’s Jordan King.

28 minutes later, there was no doubt about who won that game. Your final, from the Jungle, Marquette 92, IUPUI 58. The Golden Eagles are now 3-0 on the year, and the Jaguars drop to 1-2.

What happened? Mostly speaking, Kenzie Hare happened. She scored the next five points of the game to put Marquette up eight, and that started off a 10-2 MU run. A little bit later, it was a 7-0 burst capped by an and-1 from Liza Karlen to put Marquette up 17, and then, at the end of the half, Hare popped back into view with a three-pointer, and that gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the game at 18. It was only 16 at the half thanks to a buzzer beater from IUPUI’s Jaci Jones, but that’s still a 25-11 quarter and a 25-9 run for almost all of it.

Did IUPUI score the first five points of the second half for a 7-0 total run? Sure! Did Megan Duffy call a timeout after that? You bet! Did IUPUI trim the lead to as little as nine with 5:42 to go in the quarter? Absolutely. Was Marquette up 21 headed to the fourth? YES THEY WERE, and yeah, that’s a 22-7 run for the Golden Eagles as the Jaguars had the last bucket, a three-pointer from Abby Wolterman, right before the period ended.

Up nine and leaking points, ZIIIIIP, up 24.

Marquette’s lead never dipped below 20 again, and the Golden Eagles closed the game emphatically, outscoring IUPUI 9-0 over the final two minutes and change.

We didn’t actually mention Hare all that much along the way after she kicked things off for Marquette, but the fact of the matter is that she wrapped up her night with 22 points, one short of her career best, and she did it on 8-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-7 from long range. Is she going to shoot 71% behind the arc every night? Probably not! Is she going to going to have an effective field goal percentage of 80.7% all season long? Probably not! But the signs of growth from freshman year to now are noticeable, and not just from her stats.

By the way: Marquette needed a big night from someone, as Jordan King was held to just 19 minutes thanks to four fouls and she picked up her third just moments into the third quarter. She finished with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting, but also had four turnovers. The streak of Jordan King Doesn’t Have A Good Game continues to start the season, but the Golden Eagles are 3-0 anyway, including a win over a ranked opponent.

All told, five women hit double figures, with Liza Karlen (16) and Frannie Hottinger (10) making it four out of five in the starting lineup, and Skylar Forbes tallying 15 off the bench. Karlen led MU in rebounding with eight, and she also dished out six assists, and hoooooooboy, everyone’s in a lot of trouble if Karlen’s going to start flirting with triple-doubles on a regular basis.

How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+?

Up Next: Marquette will be back at home this weekend as they look to stay unbeaten this season. Saint Peter’s comes to town on Sunday afternoon for MU’s final tuneup before the Fort Myers Tip-Off, and start time is set for 1pm Central at the McGuire Center. The Peacocks are 1-2 on the season and are coming off a 103-33 loss at Illinois on Wednesday. Yes, the Illinois team that Marquette beat stomped out SPU by 70. No pressure.