After falling at home to the St. John’s Red Storm on Dec. 29, Marquette women’s basketball head coach Cara Consuegra put the fall on early mistakes: missed layups, turnovers and defensive breakdowns.
In Sunday’s 85-69 win over the Villanova Wildcats (12-3, 5-1 Big East), the Golden Eagles’ (10-5, 4-2 Big East) start was anything but disjointed. Early, efficient successes — including a 4-for-6 3-point clip in the first quarter — lifted Marquette over a team that, prior to Sunday, had yet to lose in the Big East.
“[Villanova is] a great team,” Consuegra said. “We knew we were going to have to play our best in order to beat them.”
The Golden Eagles played up to the task, as three 20-point-scorers vaulted Marquette over the 80-point threshold for the sixth time this season. But the scoring attack was headlined by junior guard Halle Vice, who was a model of perfect efficiency to open the contest. Vice started 4-for-4 from deep and 7-for-7 from the field, en route to a career-high 32 points.
“You kind of get lost in it,” Vice said. “You feel like [you’re] in a flow state.”
Of Vice’s 32 total points, 22 came in the opening half, which she paired with four rebounds and a 2-for-2 line at the charity stripe.
On the other side of the halftime break, junior forward Skylar Forbes and senior guard Jaidynn Mason also played efficient basketball for the blue & gold, each finishing the contest with 20 points.
Mason accounted for 13 points in 17 minutes of second half action, while Forbes shot 5-for-8 from beyond the three-point arc over the same stretch. Their methodical play time grew the Golden Eagles’ lead to 16 points after three quarters of play, setting up just their third win over Villanova in their last nine meetings.
Throughout the contest, Marquette also managed to whittle away little mistakes in the paint — the same ones that pushed the dominos towards St. John’s on Dec. 29. After giving up 16 second-chance points to the Red Storm, the Golden Eagles allowed just two against the Wildcats. By snuffing out opportunities and scoring 15 second-chance points of its own, Marquette kept control for the entire game, trailing for just 24 seconds.
“We just have to keep doing what we do,” Consuegra said. “Staying focused on our values, our principles, how we play.”
Those principles and play styles, headlined by a steady offensive attack and intimidating defense, put the Golden Eagles in front early against Villanova. With a fast, clean start, the Golden Eagles dominated a team that had done the same to their opponents throughout the season. And after losing off of a slow start just a week prior, the opening act of Marquette’s 16-point drubbing of the Wildcats looks to serve as a testament to what early efficiency can do for the blue & gold.
“We were really intentional about how we started,” Consuegra said. “Our kids were really focused on the game plan. I thought they were really focused on the areas that we felt like we had an advantage.”
That scale was tipped from the start, as Marquette’s hot start propelled it to a final edge in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and rebounds. And with momentum on their side, the final score read just as favorably for the Golden Eagles.
“More than anything, this should give us confidence again,” Consuegra said. “When we are locked in on the team we want to be, we can be very, very good.”
With a 2-0 record in 2026, Marquette will look for another quick start in its next game against Creighton (7-8, 3-3 Big East) on Thursday.
This story was written by Lance Schulteis. He can be reached at lance.schulteis@marquette.edu.