For the 6th time this season, the offense failed the Marquette women's basketball team and they were unable to break the 50 point barrier, falling to Cincinnati, 60-46.
Things started out well enough for Marquette (13-14, 4-10 Big East) as they had a 6-3 lead in the early going. But a 9-0 run by Cincinnati (15-12, 6-8 Big East) over a 4 minute span put the Golden Eagles in a 12-6 hole. During that stretch, Marquette committed 5 turnovers and took just one shot. Marquette was able to keep it close for most of the half, but once the lead tipped to 10 on an Alyesha Lovett layup after a Sarina Simmons turnover with 7:42 remaining, it got out of control. From that point, the Bearcats closed the half on a 15-8 run to push the lead all the way to 17 at halftime.
The second half was largely a stationary object. Bjonee Reaves hit a three pointer to start the second half scoring and push the lead to 20, but that's as high as it would get. Marquette would cut it to 14 on two different occasions before Katherine Plouffe hit a layup in the closing seconds to ensure that the game would end at 14 as well.
Four Factors:
eFG%: MU - 37.8% UC - 54.1%
TO%: MU - 30.9% UC - 30.7%
OReb%: MU - 31.3% UC - 33.3%
FT Rate: MU - 24.5% UC - 22.4%
Points Per Possession: MU - 0.71 UC - 0.92
Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: I think this is the first time we're giving this one to Chelsie Butler. The freshman recorded her second career double-double coming off the bench for MU with 12 points and 11 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end. Butler also added two steals, a block and an assist.
Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: When there's only 8 players getting into the game and the team only scores 46 points, it starts getting difficult to figure out who can be undersung. Marquette committed 20 turnovers in the game and Margeaux Dupuy played 10 minutes and didn't have one, so that's where we'll go for this one this time.
Up Next: The team returns home to face Connecticut (25-3, 12-2 Big East) on Saturday. It's the last home game of the season and will be a Gold Out game. First 2,000 attendees get a free T-shirt.