Being a hunter can be easy. The main goal is proving others wrong. But when a team transitions to the hunted, expectations creep in like a thief in the night.
That’s where Marquette women’s basketball finds itself this year.
The Golden Eagles came into the 2025-26 season having made the biggest jump in year-to-year preseason standings in Big East history, going from No. 10 last season to No. 2 now. Marquette head coach Cara Consuegra is not fazed.
“We didn’t care last year where we got picked,” she said. “Why do we care suddenly now?”
In Consuegra’s first season at the helm, the Golden Eagles finished No. 4 in the Big East, notching 12 of their 21 total wins against conference opponents. But they failed to make the NCAA tournament and lost in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament to James Madison.
Despite all the outside noise and heightened expectations of living up to their high preseason ranking, the objective remains the same: to right that wrong.
“We have one common goal,” preseason All-Big East first team honoree Skylar Forbes said. “The NCAA Tournament.”
In order to achieve that, Consuegra did not change her approach, regardless of the preseason buzz.
“My expectation is to build and get better,” she said.
Everyone on the Golden Eagles’ bench — from Consuegra to the players to the assistants and support staff — wants to prioritize the controllable, honing in on only what they care about. Simply put, they want to silence the outside noise.
“What matters is our circle and everybody that’s inside our circle,” Consuegra said.
But these new expectations are more than just a shiny number. They are a testament to everything that comes with being the only Division I program to return every player from last year. The connections. The routine. The institutional understanding of how Consuegra operates.
Last year, they had to gel. This year, not so much.
Marquette’s circle kept its shape.
“It speaks a lot about our culture,” said guard Lee Volker, who returned for her final season of college basketball.
Volker said Consuegra has been able to develop an environment that encourages coaches and players to want to stay, a big factor in performing well on the court, especially with teammates who are familiar with each other. It’s an environment that balances the fun of playing basketball with the work it takes to do it well.
“Playing with your best friends makes the game more fun and makes you play better,” Volker said.
And Volker and two of her “best friends” — Forbes and junior guard Halle Vice — found themselves on the All-Big East preseason team, with Forbes and Volker as unanimous selections. It is the most preseason nominees for the Golden Eagles since 2018 when the program had four players honored. More evidence of the blue & gold’s lofty expectations.
But again, as often as one may tell anyone inside the Al McGuire Center about the hype, they will always respond the same way: It doesn’t matter.
“If we keep our minds on the right things,” Consuegra said, “we can have a really successful year.”
This story was written by Ben Ward. He can be found at benjamin.ward@marquette.edu.