The careers of three Marquette seniors were celebrated last night at the Al McGuire Center, even though a Marquette victory was not.
The Marquette women's basketball team lost 66-61 against No. 7 Louisville. While the Golden Eagles fought valiantly to keep it close, in the end the Cardinals were just too talented.
"I think Louisville's just an extremely good team, they're a top 10 team that's used to people coming after them," Marquette coach Terri Mitchell said.
Marquette came after the Cardinals with an intense defensive plan to open the game, forcing them into 11 first-half turnovers. Marquette trailed at the break 35-32 after holding the Big East's leading scorer, Angel McCoughtry, to just six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
"I thought Marquette played harder than we did in the first half," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "They really did a good job of getting our kids frustrated and unfortunately we fell into it, and somehow we were up three at the half."
The Cardinals could thank freshman Janae Howard for that lead after she scored 11 first-half points en route to a career-high 13.
"I think it hurt us, because we wanted to make sure we stopped their key players but we also wanted to make sure no one had a break-out night, and for her to come in and hit some three's and get a lay-up really changed the game for us," senior gaurd Krystal Ellis said.
McCoughtry spent the halftime shoot-around brooding on the bench before she exploded for 19 second-half points. Louisville stayed in control much of the game, trailing for just 21 seconds in the second half.
"Well, she's Angel McCoughtry," Mitchell said. "I think everything she did she had to work for and that's the goal, and she still scored 25 but at least she scored 25 and she's exhausted."
Marquette had an angel on its side as well, as sophomore Angel Robinson poured in a game-high 26 points, scoring eight in a row during a three-minute stretch.
"I told her after the game she is one of the best guards in our league," Walz said. "The kid just wanted to win and there was no question about it, she was going to do everything she could to win."
Down the stretch Marquette continued to make key baskets, but McCoughtry made her only three-point attempt with 3:10 to go to put Louisville up 60-54, and the Golden Eagles could not get it back to a one possession game the rest of the way.
Ellis finished with 11 points in what could be her last game at the Al McGuire Center. Fellow seniors Erin Monfre and Marissa Thrower finished with four and six points, respectively. Freshman Jessica Pachko chipped in with 14 points for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette wraps up its regular season with an overall record of 16-14 (7-9 Big East). The loss to Louisville means Marquette is the ninth seed in the Big East tournament and will face Cincinnati this Friday at 2 p.m.