Marquette women’s basketball fell 82-72 to St. John’s Sunday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.
The Red Storm and Golden Eagles are now tied for third place in the BIG EAST behind DePaul and Creighton.
St. John’s came into Sunday’s game with the best defense in the BIG EAST and used its height and length to hold Marquette to only 1-of-19 from beyond the arc and just 43 percent from the field.
“They played more mature than us today,” Marquette head coach Carolyn Kieger said. “They played the scout very well and that’s what we just talked about as a team. I’ll take my team, I love my team any day, but we have got to grow up. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to evolve from just a fast-paced offensive team. We got to get nitty and gritty, we got to lock down and we got to play defense.”
The Golden Eagles also had no defensive answer for freshman guard Andrayah Adams, who was 6-of-9 from three and finished the game with 27 points.
Marquette’s offensive troubles began in the first quarter, shooting only 21 percent from the field. St. John’s, on the other hand, used a 12-4 run to end the first quarter up 18-8.
“No idea,” Kieger said. “Great looks. Maybe it was the flow, maybe it was confidence, but we got to keep shooting.”
The offensive woes continued in the second quarter for the Golden Eagles, as they failed to hit one three pointer, but Marquette was able to use their fast break to close in on the Red Storm. With a lineup of Natisha Hiedman, Allazia Blockton, Amani Wilborn, Danielle King and Erika Davenport the Golden Eagles pushed the ball and several times Hiedman got behind the defense for easy baskets.
At 2:55 Marquette took a 28-27 lead, but that would not last long. St. John’s would close out the half on a 9-0 run and headed into the locker room up 36-28.
Hiedman continued to be a spark plug on offense for the Golden Eagles in the third quarter. She converted on two-and-one opportunities to help bring the Golden Eagles back. The third quarter ended with the game tied at 54.
St. John’s killed all of Marquette’s momentum in the fourth quarter. The Red Storm opened the fourth on a 13-4 run to give themselves a 67-60 lead. Marquette would shoot just 38 percent in the quarter, allowing St. John’s to get the win.
Marquette will travel to Butler next Friday.
