In a game where you score 118 points and win by 47, it is not common to focus on defensive improvement, but that’s exactly what the Marquette women’s basketball team did.
After their 118-71 victory over Division III Wisconsin-Stout in their first exhibition game of the season, the Golden Eagles realized they must tighten up the defense in order to achieve success this season.
“They had a lot of wide open threes and we just need to work on our defense,” junior Angel Robinson said.
Robinson finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and dishing out 11 assists in only 23 minutes of play. She also stated that the transition defense had to get better.
Coach Terri Mitchell agreed and said the team had to do a better job of contesting shots.
“We weren’t calling out screens quick enough so we were getting screened off,” Mitchell said. “Because of that we weren’t contesting shots like we should.
“The whole reason you play an exhibition game is to show your players on film what things they need to get better at and that gives you a focus for practice,” Mitchell said.
Marquette began the game in a man-to-man defense and found success before tinkering with it and going to a 1-3-1 zone, which provided similar results.
“We switched it up this year,” Robinson said “For us to go out and play it, I think we did pretty good.”
The defense was affected by the quick tempo Marquette was trying to instill. The Golden Eagles pushed the ball up-court every opportunity they had and were sometimes late to recover off of quick misses.
Nevertheless, it was an important victory ahead of the team’s difficult season.
“I take away what great shape we are in for this time of the year,” Mitchell said. “We always need to get in better shape, but comparatively speaking to past years, I think we are in as good a shape as we’ve been where we could maintain a fast pace.”
Marquette looked comfortable pushing the pace. Seven players scored in double figures and all 10 active players got on the score sheet.
Freshman Sarina Simmons looked particularly impressive leading all scorers with 19 points in her debut as a Golden Eagle.
“I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself,” Simmons said. “It is my first game: I’m new and inexperienced. I just looked to my teammates to push me in the right direction.”
Mitchell liked Simmons’ explosiveness and said she handled the pressure well.
“I thought Sarina didn’t look nervous. I think you always wonder how a freshman is going to come out,” Mitchell said. “It’s one game at a time, but the biggest thing about Sarina is that she enjoys being out there. She’s someone that loves to play and when you have that mentality you’re comfortable no matter what you’re doing.”
But it comes back to defense. Simmons will have to improve on the defensive end and will have to continue getting in shape before becoming a consistent contributor, Mitchell said.
