Marquette enjoyed a 3-0 lead Tuesday night against No. 3 Connecticut, but the Huskies were not about to let Marquette get too comfortable.
After holding that slight advantage, the Golden Eagles were eventually trounced by UConn, 94-37. Freshman guard Brooklyn Pumroy was the only double-digit scorer for Marquette, netting 11 points. UConn was paced by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis’ 22 points.
Marquette struggled mightily, plagued by its 25 percent shooting and 22 turnovers, while the Huskies shot a scorching 55 percent from the field and converted on 15 three-pointers.
“I just think they’re an intense team all the time, and they jumped all over us, and tonight was brutal,” coach Terri Mitchell told UConnHuskies.com. “We just have to find a way to move on.”
UConn used its 12 blocks and 16 steals to put Marquette out of its offensive rhythm, and the Huskies limited junior forward Katherine Plouffe to just four points. Plouffe did not score the last time the two teams met, on Jan. 12.
Pumroy knew UConn coach Geno Auriemma would try to have his post players make Plouffe feel uncomfortable.
“Geno knows what he’s doing,” Pumroy said. “When your leading scorer’s stats are really good, he’s going to notice that, and he’s going to find a way to try to shut her down. There were times when we could have gotten Katherine Plouffe the ball more or just found ways around it.”
Ball movement was key to the Huskies’ dominant outing; the team dished out 26 assists on 35 field goals.
“They were able to get the ball moving around,” assistant coach Christina Quaye said. “We obviously would have preferred to have played better defense. We were kind of struggling at first, but we started to pick it up more in the second half.”
The Huskies held a commanding 62-17 lead at halftime. Marquette was outscored on the fast break, 33-2, and the poor transition defense was critical to UConn’s continuous hot shooting.
“They’re a great team,” Quaye said. “We had trouble stopping their transition baskets. They were coming down shooting threes. We weren’t really matching up with players, and they were shooting wide-open shots.”
Marquette lost to UConn last month at home, 85-51. The Golden Eagles knew what they would be getting themselves into when they saw the Huskies appear twice on their schedule, but Mitchell said she was dismayed by the lack of improvement from the first game.
“It’s what the Big East decided, that we had to play (Connecticut) twice,” Mitchell said. “I knew it would be a tough game, but my goal was that we would get better from the first game, but unfortunately we didn’t. That’s what is disappointing to me.”
Pumroy said she saw plenty of value playing the Huskies again, because it helps her and the team put what needs to be improved into perspective.
“Games like these are the ones that show what you need to work on the most,” Pumroy said. “They definitely brought out the weaknesses in us, and it’s something that we’re going to be focusing on a lot more in practice.”
Marquette continues on the road when it travels to Villanova for a game this Sunday. Villanova is 5-4 in the Big East but has lost three in a row. Granted, two of those losses were against UConn and No. 2 Notre Dame, but the Golden Eagles will need to use the Wildcats’ recent struggles to their own advantage.
“Road games are always hard, but they’re also more exciting,” Quaye said. “It’s going to take a little bit of extra effort and toughness from every player. That’s what we’re going to be preaching. (They need) a great mental focus put out this week. We’ve got to get better.”
