Marquette Women’s Basketball Holds On To Beat UWM

Six different Golden Eagles scored in double figures on Sunday afternoon at the McGuire Center as Marquette ran out to a 17 point lead before holding on for the 85-74 victory against UW-Milwaukee. Marquette is now 8-2 on the season with just one game left before the start of Big East play.

The game started out kind of rough for both teams, as the score was just 7-7 at the halfway point of the first half. MU got going faster than UWM, though, closing out the period on a 20-11 shot capped off by a Shantelle Valentine bucket as time expired.

That nine point lead turned into 14 before four minutes wound off the clock in the second period as - GUESS WHO - Valentine scored on the break to make it 37-23. UWM responded with a 7-0 run over the next three-plus minutes, but MU bounced back with a 9-2 explosion before UWM’s Steph Kostowicz made it a 12 point game at the half.

A three-pointer by McKayla Yentz extended Marquette’s lead to 17 early in the third quarter, and things started to look like they were tilting heavily in the Golden Eagles’ favor. That was the high water mark in the game for Marquette, though, and UWM spent the next seven minutes whittling that lead down with a 19-8 run. That made it a six point game, although a pair of freebies from Natisha Hiedeman made it eight at the end of the third. That run emboldened the Panthers, though, and a Jenny Lindner three-ball made it a three point game with 6:35 to play. A far cry from that 17 point lead, that’s for sure.

The two teams traded buckets, and it was 70-67 Marquette with six minutes left.

BANG.

13-0 run, capped by two free throws from Amani Wilborn, and head coach Carolyn Kieger emptied her bench because she was up 16 with 2:41 to play.

Want to play a fun game? It’s called “Who had the most absurd line in the game?”

• Allazia Blockton: 13 points, three rebounds, seven assists, and a steal
• Amani Wilborn: 11 points, five rebounds, seven assists, a block, and a steal
• Erika Davenport: 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal
• Danielle King: eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and a steal

When you have two players throwing together a triple nickel and neither of them are 1) Your candidate for Big East Player of the Year or B) the game’s high scorer (Natisha Hiedeman, who had 18/5/1/2), you’re probably doing pretty well.

I can’t even imagine how you even try to game plan for this team. Shantelle Valentine came in averaging 4.2 points per game in 15 minutes a night, and she made her first six shots of the game to score 12 points in 20 minutes. She also grabbed three rebounds, blocked two shots, and came up with a steal.

Seriously, if you’re not watching this team, you are missing out on the most fun basketball team I’ve seen wearing Marquette blue and gold in a long time.

How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com?

Up Next: Marquette hosts New Mexico and kids from Milwaukee Public Schools on Wednesday morning. The Lobos are 4-5 on the season and haven’t played since last Sunday, as they had a home game against Eastern Illinois cancelled due to weather in the Midwest preventing the Panthers from traveling.