PREVIEW: Women’s basketball heads to Gampel in search of breaking losing streak

Senior guard Jordan King driving to the basket in Marquette women’s basketball’s game against UConn Feb. 13 2022 at the Al McGuire Center. (Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics.)

Looking to end its two-game losing streak, Marquette women’s basketball (9-4, 2-2 Big East) travels to Storrs, Connecticut to face the No. 8 UConn Huskies (10-2, 3-0 Big East) in a New Year’s Eve matinee Dec. 31.

“Really excited, really thrilled to be able to play them,” senior guard Jordan King said about facing UConn. “You got to take it day by day to get to be able to find success and growth through the season.”

The Golden Eagles look to bounce back after their 54-52 loss to the Villanova Wildcats Wednesday in the Al McGuire Center.

King led all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the floor in 40 minutes. The only other Marquette player to achieve double-digit scoring was senior forward Chloe Marotta with 10 points. For the first time this season, first-year guard Kenzie Hare did not see any playing time.

UConn heads into Saturday’s game coming off a 72-47 road win at No. 21 Creighton Wednesday night. Junior forward Aaliyah Edwards and graduate student forward Dorka Juhász both earned double-doubles. Edwards finished with a game-high 23 points and 20 rebounds and Juhász finished with 22 points and 18 rebounds.

UConn sophomore guard Azzi Fudd has not played since suffering a right knee injury Dec. 4 against Notre Dame and remains questionable for Saturday’s game against Marquette.

Fun Facts:

UConn ranks first in the country in assists per game with 21.8 while Marquette ranks 28th with 17.5 assists per game. Junior guard Nika Muhl averages the most assists per game in the country (10.1).
The Huskies are undefeated at home this season and currently have a three-game win streak.
Marquette ranks seventh in the Big East in scoring offense averaging 69.4 points per game as UConn leads the Big East with 83 points per game.
UConn and Marquette are first (+12.2) and second (+6.9) respectively in the Big East in rebounding margin.

A Look Back:

In the last matchup between the two teams, UConn defeated Marquette 71-51 in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
The Golden Eagles are winless in the last 15 matchups against the Huskies, dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Key Players:

King is Marquette’s leading scorer, averaging 15.3 points per game. A member of the All-Big East Preseason Team, she also leads the Golden Eagles with 21 3-pointers made, 52 assists and 29 steals.
Marotta leads Marquette with 8.3 rebounds per game and is second on the team in scoring with 173 points.
Edwards is averaging a double-double with 17.9 points and 10 rebounds per contest and leads the team with 14 blocks. The 6-foot-3 Kingston, Ontario native also has a team-high 400 minutes and has proven to be a consistent scorer, shooting 63.3% from the field.
Juhász, in her first first two games of action this season, totaled 20 points and 20 rebounds. Now back from injury, the Pécs, Hungary native has shot 48.7% while averaging 15.7 points and four assists per game.

Keys to the Game:

Marquette: Score quickly. In the Golden Eagles’ last game against the Wildcats, they went into the first media timeout shooting 1-for-11 from the field. By the end of the first quarter, Marquette scored a mere eight points.
UConn: Contain King. If the Huskies can contain the Golden Eagles’ leading scorer, they will be able to get a quick lead and maintain it.