No. 18 Marquette women’s basketball fell No. 6 Mississippi State 87-82 on Thursday night, suffering its second loss to a Top 25 team this season.
The Golden Eagles kept up with the Bulldogs the entire game and led by as much as eight points. Marquette had a 79-78 lead with 1:59 left following a Danielle King jumper, but Mississippi State finished the game on a 9-3 run to avoid the upset.
“We had some costly turnovers down the stretch,” Marquette head coach Carolyn Kieger said. “We’ll obviously use this as a learning opportunity and fix that.”
The clash between the two ranked teams began with a scrappy start. Eight different Marquette players picked up fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Forward Anriel Howard and center Teaira McCowan led the Bulldogs offensively, scoring 53 of the team’s 85 points. The Golden Eagles struggled to stop Howard, as she went 13 for 17 with 29 points.
Marquette had four of its players score in double figures. King led the way for the Golden Eagles with 25 points and shot 13 for 21.
“She had a phenomenal game,” Kieger said.
She was followed by Natisha Hiedeman with 18 points and Allazia Blockton with 17 points.
The team shot 54 percent in field goals, which is six percent higher than their season average.
Marquette struggled on the defensive end, allowing a season-high 87 points.
Mississippi State had a 40-27 rebounding advantage.
The Golden Eagles’ road record dropped to 1-2 on the season this season.
The Marquette Golden Eagles will face their second Big Ten opponent of the year, going up against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
“This has to be a springboard for us,” Kieger said. “We have to know we can play with anybody in the country when we put our mind to it.”
