UNCASVILLE, Conn. — After ending the regular season with two badly needed victories, Marquette women’s basketball secured the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament. The Golden Eagles face the 5th seeded Creighton Bluejays in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. CST at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The two programs split the season series, each winning on their home floors.
Marquette (18-11, 12-8 Big East) handily won the first game in early January, 67-49, behind a career day from senior point guard Olivia Porter — three weeks before she suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 1. Creighton (15-14, 11-9) took the last meeting, 80-74 in overtime, forcing the extra period after scoring 10 more points in the fourth quarter.
“A lot of the feeling of letting that game slip away was trying to figure out how to play without our point guard,” Marquette head coach Cara Consuegra said about the rematch defeat. “We’ve watched the film a lot and we know the mistakes that we made.
“Creighton got back in the game because of our turnovers, which have been a concern for much of the year. We continue to watch them. We continue to learn with the confidence that we’ll be better when it matters.”
Marquette looking to avenge February’s shortcomings
The Golden Eagles’ loss to the Bluejays in Omaha kickstarted a four-game losing streak, but they rallied to finish in a tie for third place in the Big East after besting Xavier on senior night and holding off Providence in the regular season finale.
But Marquette’s February skid — the most consecutive losses in Consuegra’s tenure — was concerning, to say the least.
The Golden Eagles shot 31.7% from the field and scored only 39 points in a 25-point loss to the Villanova Wildcats, and they fell apart in the second half in a disappointing 12-point home loss to Seton Hall. The most positive game came against, oddly enough, undefeated No. 1 UConn, as Marquette held the Huskies to a season-low 71 points.
Now that it is March, though, those results are for naught and the Golden Eagles have a chance to right last month’s wrongs. In order to do that, they will need key contributions from their three All-Big East honorees.
Junior guard Halle Vice and her roommate junior forward Skylar Forbes were both unanimous all-conference first team selections, Forbes’ second-straight appearance on the squad and Vice’s first. Forbes also earned a spot on the All-Big East defensive team after leading Marquette with 49 blocks, to go along with her 15.5 points and nearly five rebounds per game.
Vice had a career season, posting personal bests in points and rebounds per contest — 13.8 and 8.8, respectively — and leading the Big East with 10 double-doubles.
Graduate student guard Lee Volker found herself on the All-Big East second time for the second season in a row. She has been Marquette’s go-to perimeter option, shooting 43.3% (58-for-134) from beyond the arc with an average of just over 12 points a game.
Young Creighton eyeing fourth straight win
After besting the Golden Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday, the Bluejays lost back-to-back games to UConn and Villanova before closing the regular season with three-straight victories.
Creighton had three players earn All-Big East honors.
First-year guard Ava Zediker — who scored 25 in the Bluejays’ win over the Golden Eagles — earned a unanimous spot on the All-Big East first team after averaging a team-most 13.5 points per game.
Zediker also earned a spot on the conference all-freshman team, alongside fellow first-year guard Neleigh Gessert, who missed the last three games with a foot injury. Before that, Gessert (12.3 points per game) ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in made three-pointers with 79.
Leading the largely young Bluejays squad is graduate student forward Grace Boffeli, a Big East honorable mention. The Northern Iowa transfer averaged 9.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and finished one double-double short of Vice.
How to follow the game
Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 7 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Watch: The game will be broadcast on Peacock and NBCSN. John Fanta (play-by-play), Kim Adams (analyst) and Caroline Pineda (sideline reporter) will have the call.
Listen: Tune in to Marquette Wire Radio where Brian Wilson will have the call.
Live updates: Follow @MikeySeversonMU, @RaquelRuizMU and @MUWireSports on Twitter/X for live updates, previews and takeaways for the game.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.
