Both the Golden Eagles and the Wildcats went without their leading scorers on Saturday, but the home team rallied from a big deficit to get a big win.
On my way to Saturday’s Marquette women’s basketball game against Villanova, I found out that Skylar Forbes, MU’s leading scorer, would miss the game with something that’s got her listed as day-to-day. As I sat down in my seats just a little bit after tip-off, I checked the VU roster to figure out which woman was Jasmine Bascoe….. and then I realized that the Wildcats’ leading scorer was also out for Saturday’s contest.
So, with both teams playing shorthanded, my instant thought was that the game would be decided entirely by which squad could either A) quickest or B) best adapt to playing without their star players. Early returns on that? Villanova had the upper hand as a Maddie Burke three-pointer kicked off a 13-2 run to close the first quarter and send the Wildcats into the second period with a 17-7 lead. A 10-2 run by VU that jumped off just past the midway point of the second quarter resulted in a 31-18 lead for the Wildcats. Things very much looked like either Villanova had figured out what they want to do with out Bascoe — which makes sense, seeing as she had missed their most recent game as well — or Marquette was even more slightly lost on offense than usual without Forbes.
MU caught a break to end the half, as Nova left the lane open for a Kennedi Perkins layup, then double dribbled bringing it up the court, then let Jaidynn Mason use the four seconds remaining to pull up at the elbow at the horn. 31-22 at the halftime break, so not great for Marquette…… but slightly better than it used to be.
MU got the first two buckets of the third quarter, again taking advantage of a Villanova turnover, this time a lazy Jaliyah Green pass, to get a runout for Perkins, and boom: five point game, 31-26. Perhaps the halftime chat in the locker room helped Marquette figure out what would and would not work against the Wildcats, because a Halle Vice three-pointer with 6:35 to go kicked off a 15-2 Marquette run. When Mason knocked her own missed shot back up and in, MU was up five, 43-38, a long cry from trailing by 13 late in the second.
Nova answered before the horn, so MU by three with 10 minutes to go, but they went up 10 — 50-40 — by scoring the first seven points of the final frame. Villanova’s biggest problem started to be the fact that there just wasn’t a stoppage in this game. The media timeout never came because play just kept on going, and when Mason hauled in a Perkins pass for a runout layup, it was 59-49 Marquette with 3:39 to play, and Nova had to burn a timeout to get that media break.
Credit to the Wildcats: They made it interesting after that break. Denae Carter got a couple of buckets, and Maddie Burke cashed a three-pointer to make it a three-point game. A game that looked like MU was going to run away with it was very much up in the air with two minutes left. MU answered with a layup from Volker and a timeout to arrange the defense for the stretch run. That paid off as Nova wouldn’t get another bucket until a Maddie Webber three-pointer….. but that was with just 22 seconds left, and it only made it a four point game thanks to Nova fouling to extend the game. Things got a liiiiiiiitle dicey with Olivia Porter missing some free throws, but Nova couldn’t hit anything, and Marquette figured it out, even if Porter ended up a little bit bloody after that last Wildcats foul.
Sometimes you don’t quite get to talk up the big star of the game in a recap because their buckets just didn’t come at the pivotal moments you’re highlighting. This is one of them, because Halle Vice was a MONSTER for Marquette here. 20 points, including 2-for-5 on three-pointers, plus a career high 12 rebounds as well as an assist and a steal. Jaidynn Mason added 14 points and seven rebounds as the only other scorer in double digits. Lee Volker had a nice across the board game while leading the team in assists with four, as she had nine points, five rebounds, plus a steal and block. Kennedi Perkins was key on defense off the bench, as she had a game high three steals to go with seven points and six rebounds.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: Marquette puts their 3-2 Big East record on the line on Wednesday night when they welcome Seton Hall to the McGuire Center. FS1 will have the broadcast there, with tipoff set for 8pm Central. The Pirates dropped to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in Big East action with a 72-64 home loss to Creighton on Saturday.