The Golden Eagles built their final margin against the Friars in the third quarter on Wednesday night at the Al.
By the end of the first quarter in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, Providence guard Grace Efosa had more field goals than she scored in the first meeting between her Friars and Marquette women’s basketball this season. That meant she had three on six attempts, and since MU held her to 2-for-14 in the first meeting, that was probably not a great sign for the Golden Eagles. The 11-all displayed on the scoreboard wasn’t a great sign either, but that was probably more to do with Efosa getting loose to shoot more than MU probably wanted.
At the 5:23 mark of the second quarter, less than halfway through the period, Skylar Forbes dropped in two free throws to move the score to 25-22 favoring Providence. Yes, this means that both teams had now at least matched their first quarter output in points, and they did it in less than half the time. The final minute was a flurry of activity, with MU’s Lee Volker popping a corner three, PC’s Olivia Olsen drawing an and-1 layup off Forbes’ second foul of the game, and MU’s Jaidynn Mason rising and firing for a pullup elbow jumper as time expired. A 7-3 burst by Marquette in the final 98 seconds of the quarter gave them 21 in the period as well as a 32-31 advantage heading into halftime.
Both teams found an offensive rhythm in the second quarter.
Only Marquette kept theirs after halftime.
8-0 Marquette in the first 1:14 of the third quarter turned into 10-0 turned into 17-2 to open the quarter. Mason was the primary provider with seven points in the first seven minutes of the frame, and suddenly Marquette was up 16, 49-33. It was 56-36 at the end of the quarter with Jada Bediako tossing in two free throws off a foul with 0.6 to play, and the game was over.
In that stretch of 10 minutes, Marquette scored a very healthy 1.20 points per possession. That’s a number that’s hard to hit for a full game regularly, but it’s not a completely bonkers “oh my god they just didn’t miss” number, either. MU only shot 44% from the field in the third, although they were helped by going 3-for-6 behind the arc.
As you can guess, if Marquette wasn’t absolutely on fire, Providence had to have been ice cold. Yep: 17% from the field in the third, 1-for-5 from long range, and to circle it back to Grace Efosa? Missed both her attempts and well on her way to finish 8-for-23 on the night. After that first quarter, MU locked Efosa out of the game, holding her to 2-for-17 shooting. All told? 0.25 points per possession for Providence in the third quarter.
It took Marquette until the 6:09 mark of the fourth to get their first points of the period. A Halle Vice layup made it 58-40, so it’s not like Providence had a lot going on in the meantime. The Golden Eagles played the Friars even from there, and that’s your ballgame.
Lee Volker is your leading scorer here, getting 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Jaidynn Mason was MU’s only other double digit scorer, adding 11 points. Halle Vice led in rebounds with five, while Volker and Mason topped the charts in assists with four each.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: Marquette will head back out on the road for their next contest. That will be against Georgetown on Saturday, and tipoff on FloSports is set for 6pm Central. The Hoyas dropped their fourth straight game and sixth in the last seven outings on Wednesday night, losing 70-65 at Villanova.
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