The tables turned quickly on Marquette women’s basketball Wednesday night in New Jersey against Seton Hall. The Golden Eagles (11-6, 5-3 Big East) and Pirates (12-5, 6-2) answered each other throughout the second half, but it was the home team that got the last laugh, 64-61.
The Golden Eagles continued their red-hot start from their Creighton and Villanova games at the Al McGuire Center, notching a 15-point lead with just over a minute left in the first quarter after holding the Pirates scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the early going.
Junior guard Halle Vice scored 11 of her 19 points in the opening 10 minutes. She would rack up her seventh double-double of the season when all was said and done at Walsh Gymnasium.
But then, the tables took at sharp 180-degree turn as Seton Hall took control of the steering wheel, finishing the quarter with a couple of quick scores. Now, it was Marquette who was freezing cold, echoing the wispy winds back in Milwaukee.
While it was the Golden Eagles who held their opponents scoreless in the first, in the second they were the ones held to zero points for more than a quarter’s length, from the 2:21 mark in the opening until there was 1:50 left in the half. Even though it missed 12 straight field goals in that span, Marquette went into the locker room ahead 25-22.
The Golden Eagles walked out of the locker room just as they did the tip-off, leading by as many as eight points, before the Pirates closed the frame on a 10-0 run. Seton Hall senior guard Maria Valenzuela racked up 17 second half points — she had a game-high 26 on the night — to help turn the tide of the game and give the Pirates a one-point lead heading into the fourth.
The tables kept on turning as the game was deadlocked four times in the final period alone, with graduate student guard Lee Volker converting two more 3-pointers in the final period en route to a 20-point performance.
As Seton Hall led by two points with just under two minutes to go in the contest, senior guard Jaidynn Mason drove to the hoop and went down with an injury. She had to be assisted by team personnel, unable to walk off the court on her own power. It is unclear what the injury was or how long Mason may be sidelined.
With 3:41 remaining and Marquette trailing, Volker nailed a 3-pointer from the wing to retake the lead before Seton Hall went down the floor and followed suit. Volker’s bucket was the Golden Eagles’ last for over three minutes as the Pirates extended their lead to six in the final 30 seconds.
Seton Hall’s timely free throw shooting (including six in the final minute for junior guard Savannah Catalon); Marquette’s 19 turnovers; the Pirates’ fitting plus-six advantage in steals and plus-12 advantage in giveaways; Skylar Forbes’ 2-of-8 shooting, including 1-of-4 from deep — all cancelled out the Golden Eagles’ hot start and Volker’s and Vice’s 39 combined points.
Marquette returns to the Al McGuire Center to take on the Georgetown Hoyas (10-7, 3-5 Big East) on Jan. 17. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Mikey Severson. He can be reached at michael.severson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @MikeySeversonMU.