The former Golden Eagles assistant is the seventh head coach in program history.
It took two weeks from announcement to announcement, but Marquette athletic director Bill Scholl has his new women’s basketball head coach. On Wednesday afternoon, Marquette announced that former MU assistant and current Charlotte head coach Cara Consuegra would be taking over the top job in Milwaukee.
Welcome back to Marquette, head coach Cara Consuegra ‼️#MUWBB | #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/o51byD2ihU
— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) April 17, 2024
Consuegra’s new job will be her third full-fledged coaching job at the Division 1 level following her tenure as Terri Mitchell’s assistant between 2004 and 2011 and her run as Charlotte’s head coach from 2011 until now. She also had a stint as Director of Operations at Penn State before arriving in Milwaukee the first time. She was also an all-Big Ten point guard for Iowa back in the late 1990s and at the time, she was the first Hawkeye to ever put up 1,000 points and 500 assists in a career.
Here’s Bill Scholl on his latest head coaching hire:
“When we started this process, it was our goal to find the best possible head coach to lead our student-athletes into the future,” Scholl said. ”Ultimately, that person turned out to be one of our own. Having served seven years as an assistant coach at Marquette, Cara has an acute appreciation for the values that make both the university and the women’s basketball program so special.”
“At her core, she is about the holistic development, on and off the court, of the young women she will mentor and that mirrors the university’s approach,” Scholl added. ”It’s a privilege to welcome Cara and her husband, JP, along with their two boys, Jayden and Jace, back to the Marquette family.”
And here’s Consuegra on her new job:
“My family and I are very excited to be returning to Marquette, a place that we consider home,” said Consuegra. “I want to thank Bill Scholl and Dr. Lovell for the opportunity to lead this prestigious program. I also want to thank Charlotte and all the people and players who allowed us to be a part of their lives for 13 incredible years.”
“The history of Marquette women’s basketball is strong and the future is bright,” Consuegra added. “I am excited to reconnect with the rich tradition, while leading the program to new heights.”
And her closing statement to 49er fans:
“Charlotte has been home to our family for 13 incredible years,” said Consuegra. “We will forever be indebted to the university and community for the opportunity to represent this first-class program. I want to especially thank Chancellor Gaber, Mike Hill and their predecessors Phil Dubois and Judy Rose for their belief and support. Thank you to all our players for allowing me to be their coach. It has been a privilege. While I am excited for new things ahead, Charlotte will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Perhaps Consuegra’s record of 225-169 (.571 winning percentage) in 13 seasons doesn’t jump off the page as obviously successful, nor does her one NCAA tournament appearance in that time. When you pitch that track record against those of, say, rumored candidates of Kellie Harper and Adia Barnes, there definitely does seem to be a bit of a step down. However, Consuegra went 134-84 (.615 winning percentage) in conference play in two years in the Atlantic 10, 10 years in Conference USA, and one in the American Athletic Conference. Across that time, she had just one losing season in league play, and just two others where she went .500. As far as her one NCAA tournament bid goes, well the fact of the matter is that Consuegra was coaching in a league that only sent one team to the national championship field for most of her tenure as head coach. She also has six WNIT appearances during her time with the 49ers, more than any other coach in Charlotte history, and the fact of the matter is, she’s the winningest coach in Charlotte history, too.
As for what style of team Consuegra put on the floor over the past decade-plus, it’s hard to pin that down. Thankfully, the Her Hoop Stats archive now goes back to cover her entire time with the 49ers, but it’s safe to say that Charlotte has been all over the map in that time. They’ve been a top 100 offense five times and a top 100 defense three times….. but only once did those two things overlap, in Consuegra’s second season when Charlotte’s offense was #38 and the defense was #52. The 49ers were top 100 in possessions per game in three of her seasons, but they were also sub-250 in four other campaigns.
One thing Consuegra’s teams have never done is shoot a lot of three-pointers. They’ve never ranked better than #137 in the country in attempt rate, and the 49ers were a sub-300 attempt rate team in four of her campaigns, including the first two over a decade ago. For the most part, this has been because Consuegra hasn’t really had great three-point shooting teams. Her first team was one of the best in the country, draining 35.4% of their attempts to rank #21 in the country, but after that, the 49ers cracked the top 100 in shooting percentage on just three occasions and not at all in the last five seasons. If you don’t have the shooters, then it’s a good game plan to not shoot it a lot, so you can’t knock the intent.
With Consuegra in place in the corner office at the McGuire Center, there are now two items next on the docket for Marquette women’s basketball. One is Consuegra getting her coaching staff in order, whether that’s bringing anyone along from Charlotte or retaining anyone from Megan Duffy’s staff. The other is figuring out what’s going on with Marquette’s roster for the 2024-25 season. Here’s the scholarship chart as it stands right now.
With just six players projected for next season — or maybe not, I still haven’t seen or heard anything about Leila Wells’ status one way or another — there’s clearly a lot of space for Consuegra to make an immediate impact on what her first Marquette team is going to look like. In fact, with no one committed for 2025, one of her first things to do is to figure out how much noise she wants to make in the transfer portal for immediate impact as opposed to hitting the recruiting trail between now and November’s fall signing date for the Class of 2025.