The box score will say just how dominant Marquette women’s basketball (7-3, 2-0 Big East) was in its 89-42 win over Le Moyne (1-8) on Sunday. The assists tab tells how it got there.
Of the Golden Eagles’ 19 shots from the floor in the first half, 18 were assisted. Of their 34 total, 31 finished with helpers — their most dishes in a game since Dec. 11, 2021.
“We didn’t want to settle [for] good shots when we could get great shots,” head coach Cara Consuegra said. “They moved the ball well, they found each other, they shared the ball, they got it into the paint [and] they got it out.”
That theme was set in the opening seconds of the game when Olivia Porter swung an overhead pass to guard Halle Vice. Vice’s layup opened a 7-0 Marquette scoring run in the first 90 seconds, which included two more assists.
Though buy games like these are often won in the opening minutes, the Golden Eagles never took their foot off the gas.
Marquette’s 24 points through the first quarter were its second highest of the season, bested only by a 26-point opening frame on Nov. 30 against Gonzaga. The Golden Eagles’ 49 first half points were a season-high, and their 89 total points tied their opening win over Winthrop for the most of their young campaign.
While the offense excelled, Marquette’s defense was just as daunting, forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Dolphins scoreless from the field in the fourth quarter. After a pair of free throws in the opening seconds marked the lone Le Moyne point of the frame, the Golden Eagles closed the contest on a 21-0 scoring run over the last 9:30.
The final buzzer marked the end of a pit stop on the Golden Eagles’ schedule, slotting between their first two conference matches and a Dec. 17 road showdown against No. 1 UConn. Though it would have been easy to turn on cruise control, a demanding week in the classroom left Consuegra’s team needing to play a full 40 minutes.
“Finals are really difficult,” Consuegra said. “We have student-athletes that have some really tough majors. And I think sometimes people from the outside just don’t realize how taxing that can be, mentally.”
If the outing against Le Moyne was another exam, Marquette passed with flying colors.
Graduate student guard Lee Volker tallied 11 assists, an individual season-high for the Golden Eagles, topping the team’s previous best of seven in only the second quarter. Transfer guard Jordan Meulemens shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, accounting for 15 points — her most through 10 games in a Marquette uniform.
Meulemans was one of four Golden Eagles to post over 10 points — Vice (23) Skylar Forbes (16) and Volker (14) were the other three. It was the second game in a row with quadruple double-digit scorers.
“I think our biggest growth this year has been our offense and being able to find great shots and utilize all of our pieces,” Consuegra said. “Our players have done a really good job this whole season of playing the way that we want to play without getting out of control.”
By committee, the Golden Eagles finished 52% from the floor (34-for-66), 42.4% from deep (14-for-33) and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
“Our girls did a really good job Friday [and] Saturday in our practices after finals and took advantage of the opportunity to tune up today,” Consuegra said.
With their game refined, tuned and graded, the Golden Eagles will shift their focus to visiting the unbeaten Huskies on Wednesday.
“Our job here at Marquette is to beat UConn,” Consuegra said. “We’re going there to compete.”
This story was written by Lance Schulteis. He can be reached at lance.schulteis@marquette.edu.