Marquette was down 45-32 with 6:06 to play when they made a furious 12-0 run to bring the game within a point. Villanova's Laura Kurz sank a free throw with 13 seconds to go to make it a two point game.,”The Marquette women's basketball team lost 46-45 against Villanova tonight at the Al McGuire Center.

Marquette was down 45-32 with 6:06 to play when they made a furious 12-0 run to bring the game within a point. Villanova's Laura Kurz sank a free throw with 13 seconds to go to make it a two point game.

Marquette freshman Jessica Pachko was then fouled with three seconds left on the clock. Pachko missed the first free throw, and then attempted to miss the second on purpose but it went in off the glass.

"I was trying to bounce it hard off the back so I could give Georgie (Jones) and Marissa (Thrower) an opportunity to jump up and get it," Pachko said.

Despite the mistakes at the free throw line, Marquette had another chance when Villanova stepped out of bounds while trying to put the ball in play. The inbound went to Angel Robinson who drove the lane before her shot at the buzzer fell short.

"I told Angel to go to the hoop and I think she pulled up a little short, I would have preferred if she had gone all the way," head coach Terri Mitchell said.

That final shot on most nights would have fallen into the hands of senior guard Krystal Ellis, but according to Coach Mitchell tonight was just not her night. Ellis did not start and played only 23 minutes, 14 in the first half.

"I didn't think Krystal was playing her best," Mitchell said. "I thought in the first half she had good minutes and in the second half I didn't think as well. At this point of the year it's whoever's playing well is going to be in."

Ellis finished with just three points on 1-of-9 shooting and is now just 4-of-22 from the field in her last two games.

Pachko led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and seven rebounds with most of her points coming inside.

"It's always part of our game plan to go inside because that established the outside game, we try to always have an inside-outside relationship," Pachko said.

Marquette's inside game provided 18 points in the paint, but the outside game was not as successful as Marquette was just 2-of-11 from behind the arc.

Villanova entered tonight's game allowing a Big East best 50.9 points per game and the Wildcats led for most of the game thanks to a slow pace and defensive mindset.

"The score was right where we wanted it," Villanova head coach Harry Perretta said. "The problem is we're not a good offensive team…and because of the fact that we go into these scoring draughts, the other team's never out of it."

Marquette certainly had a chance at the end, but the best defensive team in the Big East held its ground.

With the win Villanova moves to 16-8 overall and an impressive 8-2 record in the Big East. Marquette has now dropped two straight and has a record of 13-11 (4-6 Big East).

Marquette's next game is set for Sunday at 1 PM when they'll welcome West Virginia to the Al McGuire Center.

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