Marquette’s seniors — guards Angel Robinson, Tatiyiana McMorris and Courtney Weibel and forwards Jasmine Collins, Paige Fiedorowicz and Jocelyn Mellen — made their last game at the Al McGuire Center memorable with a 60-53 upset of No. 12 DePaul on Saturday night.
The game was representative of the season as a whole for the No. 20 Golden Eagles (22-7, 10-6 Big East), as play from their seniors led the way to victory. This year’s graduating class made sure not to get caught up in the emotional night, as four of the five seniors that played finished with double digits in scoring.
Control of the post again was the key factor in Marquette’s big win. Fiedorowicz and Collins started the game and proved to be a two-headed monster under the basket.
The duo combined to score 12 of Marquette’s 30 points in the paint and 27 points total, but made an equally important impact on the defensive side.
Collins pulled down seven defensive rebounds, and Fiedorowicz grabbed four along with two steals. Overall, Marquette’s defense outmuscled DePaul with 31 defensive rebounds to the Blue Demons’ 20.
With the senior post players winning their battles, Marquette’s senior perimeter shooters got the looks they wanted and knocked down the shots they needed. McMorris led the way with 16 points, including a 4-of-5 night from beyond the arc, and five assists.
“Our main focus was to get the ball inside,” McMorris said. “Once (DePaul) started collapsing, the threes opened up for me.”
McMorris and Robinson kept DePaul’s defense off balance and didn’t let their offense become one-dimensional as it had in a 76-55 home loss to Rutgers on Feb. 19.
When DePaul used a 22-5 run to tie the game at 49 with 6:24 to go, Robinson showed her leadership and drove to the basket for a layup that put her team up for good.
Coach Terri Mitchell has known since the beginning of the year that there was something special about this class. She beamed with pride for her graduating group and gave them much of the credit for Marquette’s performance both Saturday night and throughout the season.
“I thought they played with a great sense of urgency and they were hungry,” Mitchell said. “All of our games are close, and our seniors have stepped up. I think everyone on the team knows who has gotten us this far and where they’re trying to take us.”
Even DePaul coach Doug Bruno tipped his hat to Marquette’s seniors, crediting them with the hard-fought victory and going as far as to call them each out by name for their contributions to the program.
“Their seniors did a great job, and they’re a great group of players,” Bruno said.
Mitchell said she believes this year’s seniors decided to be different and inspire greatness in the underclassmen. With a shot at the NCAA Tournament firmly in their grasp, the Marquette seniors have ensured they won’t be forgotten by their teammates or their fans.
