Marquette women’s basketball (8-3) wrapped up non-conference play with an exclamation point, cruising to a dominating 87-42 victory over the Stonehill Skyhawks (4-8) for Marquette’s sixth straight victory at the Al McGuire Center in a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday.
After dropping a close road contest to Bowling Green State on Dec. 18, Marquette kept this one far out of Stonehill’s reach, recording their largest margin of victory (+45) against a Division I opponent this season.
Defensive Domination
A continued motto for the team this season has been “We Defend”, and Marquette kept to it this afternoon, holding Stonehill to a season-low 42 points. This included limiting the Skyhawks to just six points in the second quarter, en route to a 42-16 halftime lead for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette took advantage of less-than-ideal shooting from Stonehill (28.3% from the field) and was able to turn a plus-17 advantage in defensive rebounds into scoring on the other end, outperforming the Skyhawks 22-2 in fast break points.
Marquette also prevented Stonehill from establishing an interior presence, outscoring the Skyhawks 52-20 in the paint. Through its rebounding capabilities, Marquette was able to stop Stonehill from establishing offensive momentum early on from the perimeter.
Scoring and Passing Prowess
Sophomore forward Skylar Forbes amassed her second double-double of the season, while also recording a career-best in scoring. She scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and tallied three assists and three steals on the day. Fellow sophomore Halle Vice racked up 15 points and five boards of her own as well.
As the lead ballooned for Marquette throughout the contest all twelve of Marquette’s players saw action. Senior forward Abbey Cracknell finished with two 3-pointers, additionally dishing out five assists, while seeing a career-high in minutes.
With 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Cracknell fit a tight window pass to junior forward Aryelle Stevens that rolled into the hoop off of Stevens’ shot, setting the tone for the rest of the game, as the Golden Eagles were able to do whatever they wanted in all facets at the Al McGuire Center this afternoon.
Up Next
Marquette begins Big East Conference play on the road, Dec. 29 against DePaul (5-8). Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CST from Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
