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Recap: Pirates win in a team effort over Marquette, 77-66

Date: January 15, 2021

By: Ryan Henry

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The Pirates won today’s game against the Marquette Golden Eagles by a score of 77-66, ending Marquette’s five-game winning streak. This was the Golden Eagles’ first game in nearly a month, and they struggled early on against the Pirates as they were down 42-26 to start the second half.

 

The Golden Eagles did try to make a second half comeback, but their deficit in the first half was too much to overcome. The Golden Eagles got within seven points in the fourth quarter, but the Pirates would go on their own run in the last two minutes to win the game comfortably.

 

After a mysterious absence from Monday’s game against Butler, many Pirate fans were not sure what the status of starting forward Desiree Elmore would be for today’s matchup against Marquette. Elmore did not start, but her presence off the bench was huge for this Pirates team.

Elmore was a force both offensively and defensively. She scored 20 points on nine of 17 shooting from the floor while also grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds. She also converted two And-1s off of offensive rebounds. On the defensive side of the ball, Elmore drew multiple charges, including one late game to seal the win for the Pirates.

 

Andra Espinoza-Hunter was also huge for the Pirates today. In her fourth game with the team, Espinoza-Hunter scored a career-high 25 points, shooting seven of 12 from behind the arc, which accounted for all the Pirates’ made three-pointers today. Espinoza-Hunter has also added five rebounds and two steals to her stat sheet.

Guards Lauren Park-Lane and Mya Jackson struggled to score in today’s game. After starting the game with a quick five points and three assists, Park-Lane really did not do much the rest of the game. Marquette implemented a zone in the second quarter to prevent Park-Lane from scoring inside, and it worked. She shot five of 18 from the field and zero of seven from behind the arc, turning the ball over seven times.

 

Mya Jackson also couldn’t find her shot this game as she shot one of four from the field. For the Pirates, their main key to today’s victory was their defense. They forced the Golden Eagles to commit 21 turnovers, marking the seventh straight game that the Pirates have forced 18+ turnovers and those turnovers led to 29 points for the Pirates.

The Pirates also did a great job stopping Marquette guard Selena Lott. Going into this game, Lott was averaging 17 points-per-game on 52 percent shooting from field and 50 percent from behind the arc. In today’s game, the Pirates contained her to a season-low seven points on two of eight shooting from the field and forced four turnovers.

 

Marquette forward Lauren Van Kleunen led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 13 points on six of nine shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. She exited the game with about 5:50 remaining in the fourth and never came back in after landing on her head trying to grab for a rebound. Guard Taylor Valladay set a career-high off the bench with 12 points on six of eight shooting.

The Pirates’ main concern going into the game was how they would rebound against the size of Marquette. The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Pirates 49-35 with all the Golden Eagle starters grabbing six-plus boards, but in the end that was not the deciding factor for today’s game.

 

The Golden Eagles fall to 6-2 on the year (3-1 in conference play) and will host St. John’s on Sunday. The Pirates improve to 5-3 (3-2 in conference play) and will host Butler on Sunday in a rematch of last Monday’s game.

Ryan Henry can be reached at ryan.henry@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, Women's Basketball

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