Two minutes and 17 seconds.
That’s how much time remained for Marquette women’s basketball to come back against Wisconsin and force overtime in Saturday’s 65-62 thrilling win at the Al McGuire Center. Seconds before, junior forward Skylar Forbes nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to spark a rally and cut the Badgers lead to five points, 57-52, and Golden Eagles head coach Cara Consuegra called a timeout.
Marquette had spent the last three-plus quarters at best one step, and worst 10, behind Wisconsin up until this point. Early turnover struggles — it had 10 in the first 12 minutes of the game — led the Badgers to a comfortable advantage, 33-26, at halftime.
But the Golden Eagles kept hanging around, and were now running out of time to make the comeback stick, so Consuegra used one of her three remaining timeouts to talk things over. Specifically, about the defense.
“I told our kids, we have two minutes to go, and we need a ‘cut-throat,’ which is three straight stops,” Consuegra said. “We did ‘cut-throat’ this week in practice and we got it with 48 seconds left in the drill, so I pointed out that we can do this. If we can get a cut-throat, we can win the game.”
Two minutes later, with only 18 seconds remaining, the Golden Eagles scored their 10th straight point to lead by two, 59-57. Junior guard Halle Vice trimmed the lead to three, Forbes then echoed Vice’s shot to take it to one and Marquette’s defense, spearheaded by junior guard Jaidynn Mason, forced a key turnover and flagrant foul.
The Badgers had gone 2:20 without a point. The Golden Eagles led for the first time since the 3:47 mark of the first quarter. They got their cut-throat.
While Wisconsin hit a layup to tie the game with five seconds remaining, Consuegra proved to be prescient. The Golden Eagles would go on to win the game, sending their in-state rivals home with a defeat in the two programs’ first matchup since 2017.
“Even when we were down, none of us were not confident or not sure that we were going to come back out on top,” graduate student guard Lee Volker said. “We just need a little extra time today.”
Closing regulation outscoring Wisconsin 10-2, Marquette erased its previous hindrances — the near five minutes out of halftime with zero points, the seven-point deficit after the third, the 18 turnovers — and carried all the momentum heading into the fifth period.
There, Forbes again stepped up to the billing, scoring every single point for the Golden Eagles in the final five minutes. Her biggest, though, she saved for nine seconds remaining to give Marquette a lead it would not relinquish. From the top of the key, mirroring her fourth quarter 3-pointer, Forbes stepped up and nailed one from deep, putting the Golden Eagles ahead 64-61.
THE TIME IS NOW 🫢#WeAreMarquette | #playwithHEART pic.twitter.com/1vR70PPrOq
— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) November 8, 2025
She finished with 19 points on the night, after going into the fourth quarter with only one to her name.
“As a collective, we emphasize how important it is to show up for each other, regardless of if you had a bad moment, 10 minutes, 30 minutes,” Forbes said. “It was less about me, more about showing up for my teammates.”
Just like that, the Golden Eagles completed their comeback, despite not only the shaky start, but also a serious injury.
With just under three minutes left in the first half, senior guard Kennedi Perkins went down with a scary neck injury after her head collided with the lower right leg of the Badgers’ Breauna Ware.
After play was stopped on the other end, Marquette trainers and assistants ran out to check on her. The on-site paramedics then put Perkins on a stretcher and brought her to a local hospital with a neck injury.
“She’s OK,” Consuegra said. “They have her at Froedtert, just getting checked out. But nothing serious, just really precautionary.”
Marquette now has its first road game of the season against Minnesota (2-0) Tuesday, Nov. 11. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CST from Williams Arena.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
