Women's Basketball: Marquette 51, Fordham 48

A 7-0 start in the first three minutes of the game made it look like Marquette was off to a white hot start against Fordham on Saturday night. But MU missed six of their next seven shots, and it took til the 12 minute mark to get the lead to eight. A Katherine Plouffe tip-in two minutes into the second half gave MU a 10 point lead, and made it seem like they might be able to take firm control of the game.

But Marah Strickland scored 11 of her team high 14 points for the Rams in the second half and as things came down to brass tacks, MU was clinging to a lead. Fordham was able to cut the lead to just two in the last minute, first on an Abigail Corning three ball with 26 seconds left, and then again on a Corning free throw with 12 seconds left. Luckily for the Golden Eagles, Corning wasn't able to hit her second freebie and after a foul to extend the game, Plouffe hit the back end of a pair of free throws to guarantee overtime. Corning missed again on the other end and MU escaped with the W.

How about some highlights and comments from coach Terri Mitchell?

Four Factors:

eFG%: MU - 37% Fordham - 33.3%
Turnover %: MU - 27.5% Fordham - 13.5%
Off. Rebound %: MU - 43.6% Fordham - 22.4%
FT Rate: MU - 40.7% Fordham - 19.0%
Points/Possession: MU - 0.78 Fordham - 0.72

Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: Kind of slim pickings in such a low scoring game, but I'll go with Brooklyn Pumroy. The freshman guard tied Sarina Simmons for the team high in points with 10. Seven of those came in the second half, including a pair from the charity stripe to push the lead back to five with 42 seconds left in the game.

Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: This one's a little easier. Cristina Bigica doesn't get the attention that some of her teammates might, but her eight point, seven rebound effort is quietly awesome.

Up Next: The women's team participates in Badger Hate Week by traveling to Madison to take on Wisconsin on Wednesday night. Tipoff is at 7pm in the Kohl Center.