No. 17 Marquette 76, Cincinnati 59

1/27/2007 4:01 PM

CINCINNATI (AP) -Krystal Ellis scored 17 points and No. 17 Marquette went on an 11-point run in the second half Saturday to pull away for a 76-59 victory over Cincinnati.

The Warriors (19-2, 7-1 Big East) won their fourth in a row with a balanced offense. Christina Quaye added 15 points and Danielle Kamm had 13.

Carla Jacobs scored a career-high 17 points to lead Cincinnati (12-8, 3-5), which has lost five of seven. Michelle Jones added 10 points for the Bearcats.

Cincinnati cut it to 41-38 with 12:52 left before Marquette started a pivotal 11-0 run that featured a four-point play. Jasmine McCullough scored on a layup and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but got the rebound and put it in.

The Bearcats finished with 21 turnovers, leading to 20 Warriors points.

Neither team shot well for most of the first half, keeping the game close. Cincinnati missed eight of 10 shots during one stretch and Marquette endured a 2-for-16 slump.

The Warriors surged ahead to stay by hitting three consecutive shots late in the first half during an 8-2 run. Marquette led 33-26 at halftime.