It's a question that transcends sports and has been argued about for decades: Is it better for a team to be an offensive juggernaut or a defensive stalwart?

In last Friday's installment of the debate between the Marquette women's basketball team and its counterparts from Texas Christian, the scales tipped toward offensive proficiency.

The Lady Frogs, who entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in scoring offense, defeated the Golden Eagles 56-47 before 2,734 fans at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.

Even though Marquette held No. 17 TCU to 24 points below its average, it was not enough for Marquette to overcome its own offensive woes.

The Golden Eagles missed the first 13 shots they attempted in the first half, shot 6-for-35 (17.1 percent) during the first 20 minutes and entered halftime trailing 24-13.

Marquette shot a bit better in the second half, finishing the game 17-for-68 from the floor. That wasn't enough to make up for shooting 13.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc and 55.5 percent from the free-throw line.

With the exception of sophomore guard Carolyn Kieger and freshman forward Jasmine McCullough, who finished with 12 and nine points, respectively, just about every Golden Eagle struggled to put the ball in the basket.

Senior guard Kelly Schwerman finished with four points and has scored a total of 14 points in her last three games. Usually the team can count on that level of production from its leading scorer every night.

Freshman forward Christina Quaye shot 3-for-15 from the floor, while classmate Danielle Kamm went 2-for-7. Senior forward Crystal Weaver made only one of her eight attempts, and senior guard Katie O'Grady missed all six of her shots.

Some of those errant shots came at critical junctures in the game.

With 12:44 to play and her team trailing 38-30, O'Grady had a chance to close the gap to five points. Instead she missed the 3-point attempt, the TCU full-court press forced Marquette to turn the ball over on its next two possessions and the Lady Frogs built a 12-point lead.

Most of TCU's offensive production came from Ebony Shaw. The senior guard finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Other Lady Frogs who had big contributions included Conference-USA Player of the Week Sandora Irvin, 11 points and 13 rebounds, and guard Natasha Lacy, who added eight points and 14 rebounds.