Quaye, Marquette have little problems in opener

	RELATED • Recap: Marquette routs La.-Lafayette

AUSTIN, Texas -- Marquette senior Christina Quaye wasn't trying to copy Tyler Hansbrough's latest fashion on Saturday. The face mask she's wearing is to protect her nose. Quaye took a hit, which she said she doesn't remember, from a teammate during practice last week that left her with a cracked bone. Saturday's game was the first in which she had to wear it.

"It was a little different," Quaye said. "I had to adjust to it, but I've been practicing in it. It's a little uncomfortable, but what are you going to do?"

Uh... score 17 points? That's what Quaye did in leading Marquette to an 87-58 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the opening round at the Erwin Center. The No. 11 Ragin' Cajuns, runners-up in the Sun Belt Tournament, looked out of their league in this matchup.

Sixth-seeded Marquette jumped on top from the start, and never looked back. It didn't help that Louisiana-Lafayette couldn't make a shot. They were good on just 24 percent in the first half. Meanwhile, Marquette was shooting 50 percent, a trend it maintained through the game. That's why things continued to snowball for the Ragin' Cajuns. They never got closer than 21 points in the second half.

"It was frustrating, but I thought we would come out of the slump," Louisiana-Lafayette guard Jeannene Colbert said. "It was not the first game that we started off kind of slow. I thought we would come out, find it, and do what we do best, but it just didn't happen tonight."

PLAYER WHO IMPRESSED ME

Krystal Ellis can definitely ease the pressure off the inside game in round two. Oklahoma won't be able to put all of its attention on Quaye. Ellis is capable of putting up big numbers. She's averaging a team-high 18.2 points and showed good range against the Ragin' Cajuns. She shot 50 percent from three-point range and is no slouch on defense where she snatched four steals.

COURTSIDE CONFIDENTIAL

Louisiana-Lafayette has not one, but two head coaches. The husband and wife combination of J. Kelley Hall and Meredith Hall share duties as co-head coaches. Meredith served as a volunteer with the team for four years. At the end of last season, however, J. Kelley wanted to hire her to fill an assistant position. However, nepotism laws in Louisiana prohibit relatives from working for one another. So, she was hired as co-head coach. The school's softball squad also has a husband and wife team that share head coaching duties. Even the school's equipment managers are related. Two brothers share the title and duties there, too.

THE BIG PICTURE

Marquette has been well tested in the Big East, and the Eagles have a pretty good inside-outside game with Quaye and guard Krystal Ellis. There's quite a dropoff in scoring after that, though. It was a good sign that Marissa Thrower came off the bench to give the Golden Eagles 10 points, but they'll need more balance to get past the Sooners, especially if Quaye has to spend her energy battling Courtney Paris in the paint.