The Marquette women's basketball team opened postseason play Monday night with a 58-49 victory over Butler University. The Golden Eagles won despite not having played since a Mar. 6 loss to Cincinnati in the Big East tournament.
"It's just great to be playing this time of year, our 17 day layoff from playing certainly showed at times," coach Terri Mitchell said. "We knew it would take a while to get back into the game mode."
Marquette struggled with its shooting early on, missing 11 shots inside the paint in the first half en route to a 33.3 percent shooting performance before halftime. Marquette, however, led at the break 22-18, largely thanks to 10 points off Butler turnovers.
"We missed a lot of layups, and we just told ourselves we can't miss bunnies anymore," senior Marissa Thrower said.
Marquette opened the second half with a 17-5 run to take a 16-point lead with just over 12 minutes to go. But the Bulldogs made things interesting, going on a 17-2 run of their own and trailed 41-40 with 6:29 remaining.
It was then that an unlikely hero stepped up for Marquette, as junior Lauren Thomas-Johnson hit her second 3-pointer of the night, just her fourth make in her last 35 attempts from behind the arc.
"We ran the play and I was coming up baseline and I just thought 'I've got to make this,' because obviously they've gone on their run," Thomas-Johnson said.
Thomas-Johnson finished with 11 points on the night, tying her with Krystal Ellis for the team lead in the game. Thrower had season highs of 10 points and eight rebounds, and freshman Jessica Pachko contributed 10 points as well.
Butler came to within four points of the Golden Eagles until Ellis nailed the door shut with a driving layup with just 59 seconds to go.
"That's what a senior should be doing, putting the ball in her hands and going with all that (she) has," Mitchell said.
Mitchell emphasized after the game the importance her seniors will have this postseason. She also said they will be contributing from the bench as they did Monday night. It may seem puzzling to have Ellis, the school's all-time leading scorer, coming off the bench, but Mitchell has her reasons.
"I think it's important that the underclassmen start in postseason and that the seniors give us the spark and give us the maturity (off the bench)," Mitchell said. "This is not just about this year, this is grounding them in the future about what it is to play deep into March."
Marquette overcame its 23 turnovers with a dominating performance on the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 43-29. Marquette forced 19 turnovers and held Butler to just 33.3 percent shooting for the game, including just 2-of-18 from behind the 3-point line.
The win marks the sixth-consecutive postseason victory for coach Terri Mitchell and the Golden Eagles.
Marquette will play its third-round game of the WNIT Thursday against either Illinois St. or Louisiana Tech. Those two teams face off Tuesday night, and the location of Thursday's game will be determined at a later time.