It was No. 22 Marquette women’s basketball who opened the floodgates to start the game with a 7-0 run. It was that same Golden Eagles team that went scoreless for the final four minutes.

With 3:54 remaining, senior forward Liza Karlen made her way to the charity stripe and nailed both free-throws to give Marquette a 63-56 lead. After that, the Golden Eagles would go 0-for-10 on their next 10 shots, throwing away their advantage and with it any chance of a win.

In those four scoreless minutes for Marquette, Villanova pieced together a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game and stage a comeback victory over the Golden Eagles, 66-63, Wednesday night at Finneran Pavilion.

Marquette cannot handle Lucy Olsen 

Villanova junior guard Lucy Olsen was too much for any Marquette defender to handle. It didn’t matter what the Golden Eagles tried to do to contain her, nothing would work.

Olsen finished the game with 37 points, three short of her career-high of 40. Not only did Olsen make Wednesday her sixth 30-point game of the season, she also scored a season-most 12 baskets on 19 attempts and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Going into the locker room, Olsen had 14 points to her name and was the only Wildcat to score double-digits. In the second half, she scored 23, 10 of which came in the final quarter, the most of any player on the court.

It was a layup from Olsen with 29 seconds remaining that gave Villanova its first lead of the match, 64-63.

After the layup, Olsen closed the game by going 2-for-2 at the charity stripe with 12 seconds left. She finished 11-for-13 on free-throws.

Foul trouble hurts Golden Eagles

Jordan King and Rose Nkumu both dealt with foul trouble in the second half.

The two senior guards each picked up their second and third personal fouls in the third quarter, which sent them both to the bench for extended periods of time.

King would not see the court for the final 4:22 of the third frame, and she played a mere four minutes in the last quarter, shooting 0-for-3 from the field in that time. Nkumu was on the court for longer, but was unable to turn minutes into points, finishing 0-for-3 overall and 0-for-2 from beyond the arc on the night.

As a team, the Wildcats went to the free-throw line 17 times and the Golden Eagles committed personal fouls.

Statistical leaders

Hare was the led Marquette with 21 points, shooting 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. Hare also hit her 100th career 3-pointer. Following her was senior forward Liza Karlen, who scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

First-year forward Skylar Forbes started once again in place of graduate student forward Frannie Hottinger and scored her first career 3-pointer.

Behind Olsen, Wildcats junior forward Christina Dalce ended with a double-double of 10 points and 14 boards, also earning 7 blocks.

Up next

The Golden Eagles will face the No. 9 UConn Huskies (14-3, 6-0 Big East) Tuesday at the Al McGuire Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST. The last time Marquette faced UConn, it lost 95-64 at the XL Center. 

This article was written by Raquel Ruiz. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @RaquelRuizMU.