Looking to extend its win-streak to four games, the Marquette women’s basketball team traveled to Finneran Pavilion to face the No. 19 Villanova Wildcats.
But after a poor second quarter, the Golden Eagles were unable to recover and lost 73-54 on the road to go 0-2 against the Wildcats this season.
Both teams participated in Fox Sports’ National Girls and Women in Sports Day Broadcast, which the Big East celebrated with a “Female Forward” broadcast. The game featured an entirely female crew, including talent, production and referees.
The commish and the production crew for tonight’s ‘Female Forward’ telecast! #NGWSD2023 pic.twitter.com/jMkcZDPF1h
— BIG EAST Conference (@BIGEAST) February 1, 2023
“It really was a perfect opportunity to celebrate 50 years of Title IX, (and) all the progress that women have made in the sports industry,” Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said in an interview with Fox Sports Reporter Meghan Caffrey.
Statistical Leaders
Senior guard Jordan King finished with 18 points, shooting 7-for-21 while also grabbing five rebounds and earning four fouls.
For Villanova, senior forward Maddy Siegrist ended with a game-high 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting. She also earned eight boards and three blocks.
Two other Wildcats had a double-digit scoring performance. Sophomore guard Lucy Olsen had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds and sophomore forward Christina Dalce scored 16 points.
A Second Quarter to Forget
The Golden Eagles were tied 13-13 with the Wildcats entering the second frame, but that did not last long.
Siegrist responded to a quick basket by senior forward Kennedi Myles with a turnaround jumper at the 9:05 mark of the second quarter, and then chaos ensued for the Golden Eagles.
Outscoring Marquette 24-4 in the quarter, Villanova went on an 18-0 run behind 10-for-17 shooting, while the Golden Eagles shot 11.1%. The Wildcats had 18 points in the paint and six points off of four turnovers. They also had five blocks in the frame compared to the Golden Eagles’ zero.
Despite Marquette head coach Megan Duffy’s multiple timeouts, the Golden Eagles went into halftime trailing 37-17 after not scoring a basket for nearly seven minutes.
Dominance from Siegrist
In its last matchup with Villanova, Marquette was able to hold the nation’s leading-scorer Siegrist to 21 points, her lowest point-scoring performance all season. Then, the Poughkeepsie, New York native ended today’s first quarter with zero points, shooting 0-for-3 from the field.
But the woes didn’t last long for Siegrist, who scored 14 points in the second frame on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. The final half was more of the same as Siegrist scored 10 points despite her picking up three fouls early in the third quarter.
This performance means Siegrist continues her streak of scoring 20+ points in every game this season.
The Long Awaited Return
Junior forward Liza Karlen had been out for seven games with a mouth injury heading into tonight’s matchup, but the St. Paul, Minnesota native made a return nearly halfway through the first quarter after coming on for Myles.
Her presence had been missing from the Golden Eagles’ lineup and she was able to make a quick impact upon her return, scoring a layup at the 3:16 mark of the first quarter.
She finished the game with eight points, five rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes.
Next Up
Marquette flies back to Milwaukee to face Georgetown (12-10, 5-8 Big East) Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. CST on National Marquette Day. The Golden Eagles defeated the Hoyas 78-57 in their last matchup.
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached [email protected] or on Twitter @JackAlbrightMU.
