Marquette women’s basketball earned its second win of the season at the Al McGuire Center in convincing fashion, jump-started by the paint presence of sophomore guard Halle Vice.
The Golden Eagles (2-2) defeated the Indiana University Indianapolis Jaguars (1-5), behind a resounding final three quarters of action in an 83-50 victory.
Breaking Open the Game
Despite clinging to a 21-19 advantage at the end of a back-and-forth first quarter, the Golden Eagles had allowed five 3-pointers from the visiting Jaguars, including three of them from sophomore guard Nevaeh Foster.
Marquette gathered its bearings and responded accordingly. Vice led the way with a double-double, contributing career-bests with 14 points and 11 rebounds throughout the game. Fellow sophomore Skylar Forbes, who is no stranger to success against the Jaguars, followed Vice’s lead, posting a game-high 15 points, and shooting 2-for-4 from downtown.
“I was not very pleased with our defensive intensity and urgency in the first quarter, giving up five threes in the first quarter was not ideal,” head coach Cara Consuegra said. “But our kids got the message, really happy to see them bounce back and get refocused.”
Interior Focus Prioritized
Marquette kept IU Indy out of the paint, with the Jaguars only totaling 16 of their 50 points inside. In comparison, Marquette scored 42 points in the paint.
After the Jaguars scored 19 points in the first quarter, Marquette’s defense only allowed 31 more for the rest of the game. Marquette’s 3-point shooting didn’t come alive until the 4:50 mark in the third quarter, when junior guard Kennedi Perkins knocked down the Golden Eagles’ first triple of the game.
Vice said the team’s defense is paramount in terms of prioritizing the interior.
“It just starts with defense, I thought once we locked in on defense, our offense flowed for us, everyone on this team can shoot the ball,” she said. “Everyone’s confidence went up as our defensive intensity went up.”
Additionally, all twelve of Marquette’s players saw action Sunday, and the 3-point presence fired up late in the game, as junior guard Bridget Utberg and junior forward Ayuen Akot converted three shots from downtown within the final two minutes of play.
Consuegra said that a continued emphasis for the team is garnering paint touches as the season continues.
“Regardless of who we play, we want paint touches; now whether that is paint touches to score, to draw out the defense, then being able to pitch, kick and find those open threes,” Consuegra said. “That is absolutely an emphasis within our offense, we had a goal this game to have 12 paint scores this quarter, our kids are very locked in on that; they know when we get our feet in the paint, good things happen.”
Up Next
Marquette embarks on a two-game road series in Piscataway, New Jersey, in ‘Battle on the Banks’ during Thanksgiving weekend. It starts the weekend against Rutgers (4-2), on Friday, November 29. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Mikey Severson; he can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU
