The Marquette women’s basketball team finished its season last Saturday, falling to DePaul 77-69 in the second round of the Big East tournament. The Golden Eagles, projected at the start of the season to finish 11th in the conference, finished 10th.
The Golden Eagles started out the season 4-5, losing to Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, among others. An early season injury to junior Gabi Minix (torn ACL) gave the Golden Eagles a short bench and not much room for more players to get injured. The team put together a four-game winning streak, the final game being a four-point victory over Central Michigan, and gained momentum going into Big East play.
Marquette’s Big East season saw streaky play and difficult tests throughout the season. Marquette opened against Syracuse, losing 92-79, and No. 3 ranked Connecticut, losing 85-51. Both teams finished ranked and in the top three of the Big East standings. The Golden Eagles then won two straight over Seton Hall and Pittsburgh, both away games.
The next stretch of games was the roughest stretch of Marquette’s season, as the team lost seven of nine games. Opponents during that stretch included No. 13 Louisville, No. 3 Connecticut and No. 2 Notre Dame. Marquette managed to beat DePaul and Villanova in that stretch, but its best basketball was yet to come.
The Golden Eagles closed out Big East Play with a three-game winning streak, defeating Providence, Georgetown and Cincinnati. They would finish the Big East regular season with a 7-9 record and a 16-15 overall record.
Junior Katherine Plouffe was the leader of the team, averaging 29.5 minutes, 7.7 rebounds and 12.7 points per game. Sophomore Arlesia Morse was close behind with 12.3 points per game and was the team’s go-to three-point shooter. Senior Sarina Simmons provided experience and was the team’s lone senior.
The major strike against the Golden Eagles was turnovers. The team averaged just under 20 turnovers per game and over the course of the season had 135 more than its opponents. Marquette tried to limit its turnovers over the final stretch of the season and the Big East tournament.
Marquette landed a spot in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament Monday, and will host Northern Iowa (16-16, 10-8 Missouri Valley) on Friday at the Al McGuire Center at a time to be determined.
