An hour before doors opened at the Al McGuire Center for Marquette’s Big East home opener against No. 7 UConn, lines wrapped around 12th Street onto Wells Street, nearly extending to the bridge over the highway.
The buzz on Marquette’s campus was justified.
Bueckers. Auriemma. UConn. Consuegra’s home Big East debut.
That’s without mentioning a homecoming for Germantown, Wisconsin native sophomore guard KK Arnold, and Neenah, Wisconsin native first-year guard Allie Ziebell.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma knew the game was bigger than itself, as the stands were filled with young girls wearing the Huskies’ signature navy and red with the number five on the back.
“These kids that play today have such a unique opportunity that didn’t exist when I first started coaching,” Auriemma said. “There is so much attention being paid to everything they do. They have a real serious responsibility to make sure that they are being that thing that inspires people.”
And inspiration is exactly what both sides provided.
While the Golden Eagles (9-4, 1-1 Big East) suffered a 77-45 defeat at the hands of one of the game’s premier programs, both side’s stars were showcased in front of the future of the game.
For the Huskies (12-2, 3-0 Big East), a four-pronged double-digit scoring spear and aggressive defense helped pave the way for their third win in Big East play.
Marquette head coach Cara Consuegra said it was UConn’s ability to disrupt the Golden Eagles’ offensive flow that determined the game, as the Huskies defense generated 21 turnovers.
“Their size, physicality and ball pressure is hard to prepare for,” Consuegra said. “That was the biggest takeaway from the game, not just the turnovers, but our inability to run offense the way we wanted to run it because we just couldn’t really get to our spots.”
While Marquette was stymied on offense, sophomore forward Skylar Forbes was the answer with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
“It’s great when you see a player like Sky — who we believe will be a pro — go up against a UConn roster where they have multiple pros, and play as well or better, quite frankly better,” Consuegra said. “I thought she played with great composure.”
For the Huskies, the multi-faceted effort was led by first-year forward Sarah Strong with a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard KK Arnold’s 13 points and seven assists off the bench.
In a game where Germantown natives were ever-present in the Al McGuire Center, Arnold’s presence provided a spark for the Huskies.
“Whatever number of minutes or when those minutes come [for Arnold], it has to be exactly what it was today,” Auriemma said about his sophomore guard. “An aggressive attitude offensively and an aggressive attitude offensively. I thought today KK was the KK we need to see every single game.”
Graduate guard Paige Bueckers added 12 points and four rebounds in her final game in Milwaukee.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles welcome Butler (10-5, 0-2 Big East) to the Al McGuire Center on Saturday, January 4th. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST.
This story was written by Trevor Hilson. He can be reached at [email protected] or @hilsontrevor on Twitter/X.
