It was closer than it looks.
Marquette had one more chance to knock off a ranked team this season, but ultimately fell short, falling to #23/19 Rutgers in the second round of the Big East Championship. Marquette was able to build a lead as large as 9 points in the first half as they held Rutgers to just 23.1% shooting. But the teams would switch fortunes in the second half as Rutgers jumped up to 41% shooting and Marquette only made a quarter of their shots. Monique played all 20 minutes of the second half for the Scarlet Knights and scored 18 of her 23 points, including 6 free throws in the last three minutes to ice the game.
Marquette's record falls to 14-17 with the loss, so the season has come to an end. This will also bring an end to Marquette's nine year post season appearance streak. While these are both pieces of bad news, the good news is that this team has no seniors, and to take the look at the future one step further, Sarina Simmons will be the only senior next year. Add in two freshman guards, Brooklyn Pumroy and top 100 recruit Ashley Santos, and an injury free Courtney Thomas and Lauren Tibbs and Marquette can return to the post season once again.
After the jump: Four Factors and Awards!
Four Factors:
eFG%: MU - 30.5% Rutgers - 33%
TO%: MU - 25.3% Rutgers - 28%
OReb%: MU - 32.6% Rutgers - 47.4%
FT Rate: MU - 18.6% Rutgers - 60%
Points Per Possession: MU - 0.64 Rutgers - 0.81
Abbie Willenborg Player Of The Game: Given the total number of misses in this game, it's hard to believe that Katherine Plouffe fell short of a double-double in this game, but she missed out by just one rebound with 15 points and 9 caroms. She also had two assists, one block, and one steal.
Clare Barnard Undersung Eagle Of The Game: I'd like to give it to Chelsie Butler for her 12 points off the bench, but she's also the second leading scorer on the team, so that's not quite undersung. Instead, it's Gabi Minix. 4 points, 4 rebounds, a Marquette Big East Championship record 6 assists, 3 steals and, most importantly, no turnovers for just the second time all season.