Marquette women’s basketball let their perimeter shots fly in one of their biggest wins of the season when hosting the Villanova Wildcats on Jan. 4. Both of MU’s talented post players, Halle Vice and Skylar Forbes, went 9-of-12 from downtown, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter from Forbes to seal the game.
In MU’s Coconut Hoops trip against Iowa State, Jaidynn Mason drilled three 3-pointers, and the Marquette bench even went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc — including two from first-year Kam Herring. Although it came in a losing effort to the Cyclones, it served as a silver lining of sorts.
Ringing in the new year in Cincinnati, Vice and Lee Volker combined for 5-of-6 from deep, including a corner triple from Volker that ended the first half, sealing a double-digit lead the Golden Eagles wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.
In its Jan. 25 rematch against the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle, an early barrage of six 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes helped Marquette grit out that road win, coming without Forbes in its lineup.
All these 3-pointers — like all 167 of them this year finding nothing but net— were something that the Golden Eagles were intentional about in their offseason mentality, building up to moments like these. Last year, opponents congested the paint, taking them away from their bread-and-butter of paint touches, and daring them to shoot from downtown.
“We all took that personal, knowing that a lot of people packed the paint to force us to take those threes,” senior guard Olivia Porter said. “We knew we had to get in the gym, shoot 100-200 shots a day, then 100 free throws to get that repetition and to just be better from it.”
Making threes became the thing Marquette worked on this offseason. But, with only four hours of practice time per week in the summer, it was something the players needed to do on their own time.
“So, it was just getting our confidence up in the summer and it translated to the season,” Porter said.
Marquette is reaping the benefits from its offseason confidence boost.
The Golden Eagles made 165 3-pointers all last season, a number they already beat with seven games remaining in the regular season, including the first game of the Big East Tournament. Their 30% success rate in 2024-25 has increased to 38.4% in 2025-26, and their hit threes per game average increased by more than two. Forbes leads Marquette in threes attempted, with Volker in a close second, as both crossed the century mark.
MU’s difference in 3-point conversion and giving them up on the other end is 10 percent in favor of their offense, markedly improving on a 0.6 percent differential in the same category last year.
“I think we had to get better, I thought our players put the time in, and that’s really been showing,” Consuegra said.
Part of the heightened success rate has been the types of shots Marquette is taking. The Golden Eagles run an inside-out offense, penetrating down low and kicking out to shooters on the perimeter.
“Another good thing that we do a pretty good job of is hunting good shots,” assistant coach Sam Logic said. “If you’re taking bad shots, if that goes in, you might feel good, but I think if you keep hunting good shots and we reinforce taking them, then we have confidence.”
But, unlike last year, the Golden Eagles are hitting the open shots. And when they don’t go in, Logic said it is important to not think about those unlucky bounces or rim-outs.
“Even the best shooters don’t shoot 50% from three,” Logic said. “You’ve got to focus on the next shot, don’t dwell on the last one, so I think that’s important.”
The players seem to have heeded that advice.
Volker has taken 100 shots from downtown, six less than she attempted throughout the entirety of her first season in Consuegra’s system. She’s retained her precision, shooting 44% from beyond the arc in 2025-26 so far.
Vice has made four more attempts from beyond the arc compared to 14 in all of the 2024-25 season — but on 12 fewer shots so far.
Jordan Meulemans is next with 65 3-pointers taken and has shot 35.4% from deep. Jaidynn Mason’s specialty has been getting to the rack with her speed, but she’s already eclipsed the amount of perimeter shots she took last year by five and has made more of those attempts.
Consuegra ultimately chalked up her team’s improved 3-point shooting down to execution. With maintaining similar spacing and giving more options out of motion to lessen predictability, she said that even though they didn’t convert as much on their threes last season, the ones they attempted were worth the chance, setting the table for their second act.
“That’s a big reason why our [shooting] percentage is high, certainly the work that our kids have put in and for the most part we take good shots, and when you take those good shots, you should make them,” Consuegra said.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
