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Emily Leer scored Villanova's first four baskets of the game, and by that point, it was 12-6 in favor of the Wildcats. After a breather on the bench, Leer came back for the last nine and a half minutes of the game and hit another four shots. When Leer came back into the game, Villanova had a six point advantage. By the time she hit her last shot of the half, the Wildcats led by 21, and only a Katherine Plouffe layup as the clock dwindled to zero pushed it back under 20 at the break.
Leer was perfect for Villanova in the first half, draining all eight of her shots, five of them behind the arc. The game was essentially over at halftime, and the 21 first half points from the junior from Glenside, Pennsylvania, was the reason why. The 16 from Devon Kane on her Senior Night also didn't help, but she was "only" 4-7 from the field in the opening stanza.
I could tell you things about the second half, but since the lead didn't dip any lower than 16 on a McKayla Yentz layup with 56 seconds left, it'd be a waste of everyone's time. In a game that Marquette had to have for their NCAA tournament hopes, they allowed the Wildcats to compile an effective field goal percentage of 72.5%. That's the kind of thing that happens when you let a team hit more than half of their three pointers in both halves, which is what VU did tonight.
Marquette was led in scoring by 13 points from Brooklyn Pumroy, who also had four assists after recording a career high 12 helpers on Saturday against Creighton. Katherine Plouffe was held to just 11 points and four rebounds before getting shut down for the night after 27 minutes of action, but that doesn't even compare to the off night for Katie Young. Marquette's other senior star had just eight points and four rebounds. Leer picked up two more points in the second half to finish with a game high 23 which was matched by Kane when things were said and done.
I refuse to issue awards for this kind of showing, so I'll leave you with this note: With the loss, Marquette clinches the fifth seed in the Big East tournament and thus, on Sunday at the Allstate Arena, they will play the #4 seed - The Villanova Wildcats.