Marquette women’s basketball senior forward Chloe Marotta announced Tuesday night that she will be returning for her fifth and final season. She made the official announcemenet on Marquette University Golden Eagle Sports Report.
Marotta, who will be using the COVID-19 extra year of eligibility given by the NCAA, said returning to the Golden Eagles was an easy decision.
“With the chance to play an extra year I didn’t really take a second to think about it,” Marotta said. “I love this place and I really wanted to stay for another year and to play college basketball another year is definitely a blessing.”
In 34 games this season, Marotta averaged career-highs in points (6.9), rebounds (7.3) and assists (3.1). Additionally, she racked up four double-doubles, eight games scoring double figures and eight games with 10 or more rebounds.
During the Golden Eagles’ 92-82 loss to Toledo in the WNIT Third Round March 24, Marotta finished with a career-high 28 points.
“Chloe was tremendous, really got us back in the game,” head coach Megan Duffy said after the loss. “She was great, confident with her jump shot, scored inside. … Chloe continues to evolve our game. She’s always known for her defense, rebounding and little things but just to see her offensive game improve in the last game of the year, we will try to take that momentum into the offseason.”
Marotta, who earned the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award honors this season as well, currently sits at No. 19 in program history in all-time career rebounds at 624.
The local native of Mequon, Wisconsin said getting the chance to play in-front of friends and family one last time special.
“Having them in the crowd every game, every home game, it’s been a blessing,” Marotta said on GESR. “When I committed to Marquette, that was something I really was looking forward to, to have them in the stands. There’s a funny picture of my mom and my brother kind of screaming at the crowd and that’s what it’s all about, just seeing them there and having that support from them.”
Heading into the 2022-23 season, Marquette will have a different look with graduate students Karissa McLaughlin and Lauren Van Kleunen graduating next month and guards Danyel Middleton and Antwainette Walker elected to transfer.
Marotta’s return provides the Golden Eagles with a veteran presence both on and off the field as the team brings in four first-year players in its Class of 2026.
Looking toward next season, Marotta said she is looking to improve and become more of a leader for the Golden Eagles.
“Going into this next season, we got a lot of rebuilding (so) looking forward to building a new team and coming together,” Marotta said. “Individually (I) just want to continue to grow and mainly be a leader for this team.
“And having the experience of being here for the past four years, I think I have on-court and off-court experiences to share with my teammates and really want to do while also making an impact on the court as much as I can.”
This article was written by Ben Schultz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @benschultz52.
