Believe your eyes because, indeed, the Marquette women’s basketball team is on the cusp of cracking the Top 25 in both national polls.

After a gritty road victory at No. 25 Vanderbilt Sunday, the Golden Eagles moved to 3-0 and can enter the rankings if they prevail at home tonight against Central Michigan and Sunday against No. 2 Duke.

“The girls are in high spirits,” assistant coach Christina Quaye said. “This week we’re cleaning up some things. We won, but we’ve still got a lot of things to work on and clean up, so just trying to get everybody ready mentally as well as physically and head into the game (tonight).”

Central Michigan qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season and is coming off a 22-point defeat to No. 8 Kentucky. The Chippewas saw the return of top-scorer Crystal Bradford, who was serving a one-game suspension and scored 23 points in the loss.

Duke entered the season as a legitimate contender for the national championship after advancing to the Elite Eight last season and returning all five of its starters. The Blue Devils are averaging 95 points per game and are paced by senior guard Tricia Liston, who is contributing 18.3 points per game. Marquette sophomore guard Brooklyn Pumroy said she is ready for the test.

“Every team has the nature of knowing names, and Duke has definitely backed up its name,” Pumroy said. “As long as we go out there and play our game I think, no matter what the scoreboard ends up saying, if we do what we do what we need to do and keep building our bricks, eventually it’ll turn out good.”

Now that upper-echelon squads such as Notre Dame and Connecticut have left the Big East, coach Terri Mitchell is doing a commendable job of inserting these other talented programs for her team to experiment with.

“That definitely sets the tone for bigger games when it comes time for conference play,” Pumroy said. “I think that’ll help us out. I think we need to keep playing every team no matter who it is. So far it’s worked, so we’ll keep it that way.”

One notable improvement for the Golden Eagles thus far is its composure on offense. This can be in part attributed to the new women’s basketball rule change that more strictly enforces foul calls, which will give offenses a boost in the long term. Marquette is shooting a solid 46 percent from the field, has five double-digit scorers and has a positive assist to turnover ratio of 1.02:1, led by Pumroy’s 7.7 assists per contest.

“I think honestly it’s all mentality,” Pumroy said. “We’re all really focused on what we need to do and our goals. I think that I have been trying to keep myself a little more calm, especially in big situations. The point guard, that’s the emotion of the team, and if I’m out there panicked then everyone else is.”

One hopeful advantage for Marquette will be its home court. The Golden Eagles won their first two games at the Al McGuire Center and are anticipating comfort from their crowd for these pair of games, especially the nationally televised matchup Sunday.

“We love playing at home,” Quaye said. “We love playing for our fans here, we love our home crowd. Of course it does. You get that little edge, that little support in the background for you, so it’s great.”

Marquette tips off against Central Michigan tonight at 7 p.m. and against Duke Sunday at 3 p.m.