Marquette Women’s Basketball Sets New Program High In Associated Press Poll

Marquette women’s basketball went 2-0 last week, picking up a New Year’s Eve win over Creighton and a Friday night victory over then-#24 DePaul. Apparently, the average margin of victory against a ranked team and a team that had just beat said ranked team of over 25 points was very impressive to the Associated Press voters. After being ranked #20 a week ago, Marquette is now ranked #15 in the country in the newest AP poll. That is the best ever ranking for MU in the poll, and obviously, the best ranking of the year, surpassing their #18 mark from early December.

Marquette snagged 282 points in the polling, slotting them between #14 Gonzaga with 318 points and #16 Kentucky with 268 points. MU appeared on all 30 ballots, so shoutouts to the four people not voting for the Golden Eagles at all last week for finally getting on board. Adam Minichino (Columbus (MS) Commercial Dispatch) continues to be Marquette’s biggest supporter this week, moving the Golden Eagles up to #12 in the country.

Following Connecticut’s loss to Baylor, noted Marquette foe Notre Dame have moved back up to the #1 spots in the poll this week. They may not be there for long, though, as the Irish will host #2 Louisville on Thursday night. Mississippi State holds steady at #7, and that does it for Marquette opponents in the top 25 this week. Miami missed the top 25 by 30 points to be the unofficial #26 team in the country this week, while DePaul slid all the way out of the top 25 and earned just 23 points. Quite honestly, I don’t think they even deserve those votes after their last 10 days. Butler turns up with two points from a 24th place vote from Scott Nulph of the Laramie Boomerang, and yes, he was one of the peeps without Marquette in his top 25 a week ago.

Marquette returns to action on Friday morning, when they visit Villanova for a 10:30am Central start for what has to be a local school kids day at The Finn. The game will be streamed by the Big East Digital Network on Fox Sports Go.

You can check out the full top 25 and every single ballot right here.