In its 53-44 loss to Providence Saturday, the Marquette women’s basketball team struggled offensively when junior guard Angel Robinson and sophomore forward Jessica Pachko, the team’s top scoring threats, failed to combine for double-digit points.
After the game coach Terri Mitchell said it’s extremely important that the team find other offensive outlets for days when Robinson and Pachko struggle offensively.
Robinson entered the game averaging 12.6 points per game and Pachko averaged 11.2 ppg. Together, they scored five points while shooting 13.33 percent (2-of-15) from the field. Robinson also failed to convert on two free throw attempts to tie the game with 1:21 left.
“It’s tough that Angel and I had off days on the same day,” Pachko said. “You can’t expect to have a perfect game every game.”
As to why Marquette’s top two scorers failed to perform up to their usual standard, Mitchell had no answers.
“The shots are the same shots that Jess makes inside that she didn’t make (Saturday), the same plays that we call all the time that she turns around, shoots and scores,” Mitchell said. “(Saturday) she didn’t. I don’t have an answer for that.”
Junior guard Courtney Weibel said it’s uncertain who will step up in a game where Robinson and Pachko struggled like they did Saturday.
“We have the confidence in any one of us to step up,” Weibel said. “If one person’s hot then we look to them. We’re pretty good at recognizing who’s hot and who we need to get the ball to.”
The two players who were hot — at least in the first half — were Weibel and freshman forward Sarina Simmons. Simmons ended the half with 14 points. In the second half, however, she failed to record a single point.Simmons went 0-for-4 from the field in the second half. She said she mentally wasn’t prepared to play the way she had in the first half.Pachko said Simmons has athleticism that is unmatched by anyone else on the team that could make her a huge offensive threat.
“She makes some pretty tough shots that not a lot of people can make,” Pachko said. “She’s a lefty. She can hit the high post shots, she can even step back and hit the three.”
Weibel was the team’s second leading scorer for the game with nine points on 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. But she too failed to score in the second half and didn’t even attempt a second-half field goal.For most of the first half Providence set up in a zone defense.
That’s when Weibel said she can play a more pivotal role in the offense because of her ability to hit 3-pointers. In man-to-man, Weibel said the defense can keep a defender on her at all times, which makes it difficult to get field goal attempts.
“In the second half, they were all over me. I barely even touched the ball,” Weibel said. “They really made an adjustment on their defense.“That’s just how it goes sometimes.”
Pachko and Robinson are the only two players on the team averaging 10 or more points per game. The top three teams in the conference standings, Connecticut, Notre Dame and West Virginia, all have three or more players averaging 10 or more points per game. Finding that third, consistent option would go a long way for this team.
