#23 Marquette Women’s Basketball Thrashes Loyola-Chicago

The Marquette women’s basketball team DESTROYED Loyola-Chicago yesterday in the annual Milwaukee Public Schools Day game. Those elementary school kids must think the women’s basketball team is the best in the country after the shellacking the Golden Eagles gave the Ramblers. The final score was 92-30 (NOT A TYPO) and I could just end this article there.

But why not brag about the biggest margin of victory in program history??

Yes, Loyola-Chicago is ranked 344 out of 349 teams in Division 1 basketball but that’s besides the point. Marquette put on a clinic and led by as many as 67 points late in the fourth quarter. MU held the Ramblers to just ONE point in the second quarter when they outscored them 28-1. That is absolutely insane. If I didn’t have class, I would have loved to stop by and see that with my own eyes. In retrospect, I definitely should have skipped class to watch the near perfect game the Golden Eagles had. How do you only give up one point in a quarter? That is just beyond me. MU forced the Ramblers into six turnovers that quarter along with 14 missed shots.

Believe it or not, things actually got worse for Loyola from there. As you can guess from the lone point in the second quarter, Loyola didn’t have a field goal in the period. Well..... they didn’t have one in the third period, either. That’s right: Marquette held Loyola-Chicago without a field goal for over 20 straight minutes. They scored to make it 29-11 with 21 seconds left in the first quarter, and then their next field goal was a three pointer with 9:12 left in the game..... which cut the lead to 55 at 75-20. This happened. In between field goals by Loyola, Marquette went on a 46-6 run.

For the game, Marquette shot a healthy 56.5% from the field while holding the Ramblers to, and I swear this is true, just 20.4% shooting. The Golden Eagles had four players in double digits and every single player got playing time and contributed to the 62-point blowout victory by the time the final horn sounded. Olivia Moskari was the only MU player to not score, but she still chipped in an assist.

I mentioned turnovers earlier, so ready for this? The Ramblers ended up committing 26 for the game, with 15 of them coming in the first half when this one still resembled a competitive contest. Their leading scorer was Abby O’Connor with 11 points and Jessica Cerda was close by with nine. MU held all other players under four points. Again, MU only gave up 30 the entire game!!!

Now I admit Loyola-Chicago played very poorly. But Marquette completely dismantled the Ramblers in route to a program record 62 point margin of victory! If you’re like me, you’re probably eager to see how this all went down...well here’s the highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and Spectrum Sports.

What an entertaining game and a huge confidence booster for the Golden Eagles whose schedule is going to get more difficult as we head into December. They will play two ranked teams in the AP poll as well as Green Bay whose just on the edge of the top 25 receiving 31 votes. MU will play #22 ranked Michigan December 7 before closing out non-conference play against #3 ranked Notre Dame on the 20th of December. Having a game like this is great for the Golden Eagles because they can gain some serious momentum and confidence as they enter their toughest stretch of the season. It was also good to see every player get minutes because you never know when you’ll need to call on your bench players in key late game situations.

Up Next: The Golden Eagles will be at Green Bay this Saturday. The Phoenix are 5-1 this season and are currently receiving 31 votes in the AP poll. They started the season with five straight victories before falling to #6 Mississippi State. Tipoff is slated for 1pm Central and you can watch the game on WatchESPN.