An injury, an 0-for-3 line on layups, a 37.5% shooting clip and a slim 18-12 lead over a Division II opponent.
That’s what the first quarter held for Marquette women’s basketball (8-4, 2-1 Big East) in its 86-43 win over the Truman State Bulldogs (5-6) on Saturday. In a game that the Golden Eagles were chalked up to dominate on paper, the results through 10 minutes on the court failed to live up to the expectations of players, coaches and fans.
Then, a switch flipped.
Marquette scored the first 17 points of the second quarter. Junior forward Skylar Forbes tallied nine of her 26 total points. The Golden Eagles held the Bulldogs to just four points on 1-of-15 (6.7%) shooting. And the game never left Marquette’s grasp.
“For us, it always starts with defense,” head coach Cara Consuegra said. “We really picked up our ball pressure, our disruptions, our deflections.”
That adjustment came after an early drain to the Golden Eagles on the court. In a jog back to play defense, senior guard Kennedi Perkins went to the floor with an injury, leaving the court without placing any weight on her right leg.
“With [Perkins] going down, it was a little bit hard for us having to regroup after the fact,” Forbes said.
The injury was Perkins’ second in-game departure of the season after a neck injury against Wisconsin on Nov. 8. Having already seen an injury cycle for Perkins, Consuegra said her exit on Saturday was especially jarring.
“I thought that shook our kids up a little bit,” Consuegra, who did not have an update on Perkins’ condition postgame, said.
Following the injury, Marquette’s offense stalled, with missed shots and passes breaking up possessions. Junior guard Halle Vice, after starting 0-for-3 from the field, was substituted out of the game. Those on the floor donning Marquette jerseys and Christmas sweaters — the coaching staff’s uniform for “Ugly Sweater Day” — were visibly frustrated after the opening 10 minutes.
But the team’s regrouping, as Forbes called it, seemed to click as the second quarter clock began to count down.
Though Forbes had already posted a game-high eight points in the first quarter, her nine-point, four-rebound second frame kicked the Golden Eagles into high gear — en route to her tied career-high points and third all-time double-double. Vice, despite her early trip to the bench, recovered with her second double-double in three games, posting six of her 22 points and five of her 11 rebounds in the second.
Senior guard Bridget Utberg made her first of three triples, with her 11 total points setting a new career-high.
The overwhelmingly blue & gold frame ended with Marquette taking a comfortable hold on the game — its first since jumping out to a 3-0 lead just 16 seconds into the contest. And despite the final score reading the same as just another buy game, the in-game recovery is what Marquette believes is a learning opportunity with Big East play on the horizon.
“We’ve been talking about playing to our standard,” Forbes said. “Given that this was a game on paper that we were supposed to win, [we’re] carrying that into Big East play and showing up the way that we know we’re supposed to.”
With three conference games under their belt, the Golden Eagles will now shift to full-time Big East play for the remainder of the season. With its biggest test out of the way, an 89-53 road defeat at No. 1 UConn, the stretch after Christmas break will vault Marquette into the thick of its 2025-26 campaign.
“Going into Big East play, I’m excited,” Forbes said. “I think we’re really looking forward to what’s coming next.”
This story was written by Lance Schulteis. He can be reached at lance.schulteis@marquette.edu.