In team sports, it is always easier to acknowledge individual accomplishments while racking up wins.
After suffering back-to-back losses to Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the fact that senior guard Krystal Ellis was just three points away from becoming Marquette's all-time leading scorer was not even mentioned in the post-game interviews.
In fact, winning the game that night was so important that Ellis was not even in the starting lineup.
"I felt like we needed a bigger guard to defend (Shavonte) Zellous," coach Terri Mitchell explained. "We had a couple guards that we wanted to start. (Ellis) is still coming back from her ankle sprain so we wanted to give her time to warm up."
Zellous entered the game as the Big East's leading scorer and torched Marquette for 31 points, shooting 11-of-20 from the field. Ellis played 27 minutes, more than any other Golden Eagle, but only collected 13 points.
Marquette's record now stands at 12-9 (3-4 Big East), and will play its second road game in a row tonight when they take on South Florida. Ellis could break the record with just a single shot from behind the three-point line.
Marquette certainly has time to turn its season around with some key wins, something Ellis has become accustomed to during her tenure at Marquette.
Prior to this season, Marquette has gone 68-29 in games Ellis has played. She averaged 15.9 points per game over her first three seasons, including a career-best 19.4 ppg last season en route to the WNIT championship.
Before her arrival at Marquette, Ellis was a highly touted player for St. Catherine's High School in Racine, Wis. She was named the Milwaukee-area Player of the Year as a junior, an award she would lose the following season to current teammate Erin Monfre.
It was not long after Ellis' arrival at Marquette that it was clear to Mitchell just what type of player she had recruited.
"Obviously that freshman year we started to get an idea, here was a player that was stepping up in big situations, knocking down huge shots, and that trend has continued fortunately for us for four years," Mitchell said.
That year, Ellis was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team as she averaged 10.7 ppg.
In Ellis' first collegiate game, she played seven minutes and scored zero points, one of only three times in 117 games she has not scored a point.
"I didn't know what to expect when I got here, I just knew I wanted to play. I loved the game and I wanted to help out, I never knew I'd be the type of player I am but I'm happy I am this player," Ellis said.
Since that freshman year, Ellis has racked up numerous awards including two All-Big East first team selections and last year's WNIT tournament MVP. With just three points tonight, Ellis will have accomplished something there isn't a post-season award for, but rather a legacy to leave behind.
Ellis's pursuit of the record in Marquette's last two games has been overshadowed by losses, but Marquette will be looking to rebound against a USF team that is just 3-5 in Big East play.
Ellis was recently asked how she envisioned her career ending as Marquette's leading all-time scorer, and it was clear the record is not her ultimate goal.
"A national championship in the NCAA, that's how I want to end it," she said. "I want to end it on a win, we ended on a win last year and now there's something bigger."