The Marquette women's basketball team has earned a spot in postseason play this year, but not the postseason play everyone may have expected.

The Golden Eagles received an at-large bid and a first-round bye in the Women's National Invitation Tournament thanks to a 16-15 overall record, including a 7-9 record in the Big East Conference. The team will play either Duquesne or Butler.

Back in November it was clear the Golden Eagles had bigger aspirations than another year in the WNIT.

"I'm coaching this group to be an NCAA Tournament team," coach Terri Mitchell said at the beginning of the season. "There is obviously sacrifice and a lot of games until we get to that point, but the desire and energy is there."

While the team did not make the NCAA tournament, the players know that postseason experience can be invaluable to a team and a program.

"Postseason is good in general," senior guard Krystal Ellis said. "Yes, everyone wants to make it into the NCAA's, but postseason is good. There's teams that are done right now."

Marquette also has a unique chance to make history this postseason. If the Golden Eagles successfully defend last year's WNIT title, they would become the first back-to-back WNIT champions since Wayland Baptist won the tournament nine-straight times from 1969-'77. The experience gained from last year's title run could prove essential to this year's squad.

"We know what it feels like to play postseason, so if we just come back with the energy we had going into the NIT last year then I think we'll be fine as a team," sophomore guard Angel Robinson said. "But we just have to get everybody on the same page."

Marquette will play Monday at 7 p.m. against the winner of Duquesne versus Butler, which face off Thursday night. The Golden Eagles will be playing at the Al McGuire Center where they are 9-8 this season.

Ellis said the team must stick to its routine while dealing with the challenge of preparing for a game in which it does not know who it will play.

"We just work on the fundamental stuff that we can get better at," Ellis said. "You never know what's going to happen in a game, you can do all the scouting, know every player, but in a game situation it's going to be different."

The biggest difference in the Golden Eagles' upcoming games will be the fact that if they lose their season is over. For all but three Marquette players that will be a familiar feeling thanks to last year's postseason run, and that experience may prove vital for the team's newcomers.

"They don't know how important it is to play postseason games, but we're trying to feed that into their heads as much as possible," Robinson said.

Some of these newcomers are major contributors for the Golden Eagles. In particular, freshman Jessica Pachko has proven to be a force for Marquette all season long. Pachko is third on the team in scoring at 8.7 points per game while leading the team in rebounding at 5.4 a game. Pachko is also second on the team in starts at 24, behind only Robinson's 31.

There are three teams on the Marquette side of the bracket that the Golden Eagles have faced this season. Marquette defeated Kansas and Oakland and lost to Syracuse earlier this season.