Marquette hands Lady Panthers 4th-straigh loss
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Krystal Ellis scored 18 points and Marquette rallied to beat No. 23 Pittsburgh 76-69 on Saturday night, sending the Panthers to their fourth straight loss. Pittsburgh led 59-57 with 5:20 to play, but Marquette (15-12, 7-7 Big East) outscored the Panthers 19-12 down the stretch.
Ellis gave Marquette its first lead of the night with 3:59 to play, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Golden Eagles up 62-59.
The Panthers (18-7, 8-4) opened the game by scoring 11 straight points. Marquette didn’t score until Ellis connected on a pair of free throws 3:23 into the half.
The Golden Eagles missed their first 14 attempts from the field and finally got their first basket when Jocelyn Mullen hit a jumper with 12:55 to go.
Marcedes Walker led Pittsburgh with 19 points.
Panthers scoring leader Shavonte Zellous missed the game because of a concussion.
Marquette shot just 10-of-35 in the half, but managed to trim a 12-point deficit to six with an 8-0 run. The Golden Eagles opened the second half with six straight points, finally tying the game after back-to-back baskets from Paige Fiedorowicz made it 33-33 with 18:12 left to play.
After hitting just 2-of-20 shots to open the game, Marquette went 24-of-43 the remainder of the game.
Copyright Associated Press 2008