(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) CHICAGO – Behind a strong first quarter that saw Marquette open up a 14-point lead, the Golden Eagles began BIG EAST play with a dominant 85-54 win on Thursday night over DePaul at Wintrust Arena.
MU controlled the glass throughout, holding a +15 advantage. The Golden Eagles aggressiveness inside had DePaul players in foul trouble all night with three fouling out. The fouls resulted in MU attempting a season-high 30 free throws, making 22 of them.
Skylar Forbes finished with a game-high 19 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting. Halle Vice and Jada Bediako added a dozen apiece.
Olivia Porter opened the game with a 3 on the wing and the Golden Eagles didn’t look back. Leading by four midway through the first, MU seized control with nine unanswered. DePaul ended its three-minute drought with a triple but MU closed the period at the line with six straight.
MU’s defense stayed locked in moving into the second, holding the Blue Demons without a bucket until 4:12 was left in the half. The Golden Eagles’ lead stood at 32-11 before DePaul converted on back-to-back attempts. Halle Vice answered with layups on consecutive trips to put MU up 36-17.
Marquette took a 38-21 lead into the locker room, led by its post players who combined for 25 points and 12 rebounds. Vice finished the half with 10 points on 5-of-10 from the field to go with five rebounds.
Out of the break, the Golden Eagles went inside to Skylar Forbes and the junior scored the first five of the half to put MU up 22. The advantage remained in the 20s until Lee Volker and Jordan Meulemans knocked down back-to-back treys that started an 8-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 30.
Bediako helped Marquette close out the game as the junior had seven of her 12 points come in the fourth. She finished 5-of-5 from the field on the night.
UP NEXT
Marquette returns home this weekend to face Butler on Sunday. Tipoff at the Al McGuire Center is set for noon CT and will stream on ESPN+.
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