For the first time since falling to Notre Dame back in December, Marquette has fallen back to the .500 mark on the season.
The Golden Eagles (13-13, 4-9 Big East) got double digit scoring from four different players led by 20 from Arlesia Morse, but after opening up 6-0 on the Syracuse Orange (16-11, 5-8 Big East), they committed 21 turnovers and only shot 38.5% from the floor. Meanwhile, Syracuse was on fire most of the game, shooting over 53% in both halves. Nowhere was this more evident than when Syracuse went on a 16-0 run to turn the tables on Marquette after a Katie Young three pointer had cut Syracuse's 7 point halftime lead down to 4. Kayla Alexander did the most damage for the Orange, pouring in 23 points on 10-13 shooting.
With road trips to a Cincinnati team that already won in the Al McGuire Center and #18 Rutgers on the schedule along with the home finale against a Connecticut team that just had their 99 game home winning streak broken, things are looking bleak for Marquette continuing their 9 year post season streak. It's not out of the question, but Marquette may need to find a way to win games in the Big East tournament for it to happen.
Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: It's hard to go in a different direction than Arlesia Morse. Not only did she continue her recent high scoring output, but she also did not commit a turnover in the game.
Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: Can you have an undersung player when everyone who gets in the game gets at least 12 minutes? Katie Young grabbed 7 offensive rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end, to help replace the efforts of Apiew Ojulu, who missed yet another game while in a walking boot.
Up Next: The aforementioned trip to see the Cincinnati Bearcats on Tuesday evening at 6pm.