This one was out of hand before I sat down, it seems.
Through no fault of my own, I was a tad late to Marquette women’s basketball’s Sunday afternoon game against Illinois State. Sometimes life decides that you have to deliver something shortly before the game tips off, so you end up walking in during the first quarter media timeout.
Or rather, about where the timeout should have been.
See, an Olivia Porter layup with 6:05 left in the first quarter put Marquette up 11-2 and prompted Illinois State head coach Kristen Gillespie to call timeout. It was 13-6 Marquette when I walked into the arena, and 20-7 when the first quarter ended.
MU won the second quarter by five points, followed by an eight win in the third quarter. In fact, that third quarter was much worse off for Illinois State than me saying “Marquette won the quarter by eight points.” Marquette went on a 16-2 run to close the quarter, which means, yes, ISU had managed to cut the margin to just 12 points, 45-33, after a jumper by Elyce Knudsen with 6:03 to go.
61-35 heading to the fourth, and the margin eventually peaked at 28, 78-50, with just over two minutes to go. Easy breezy, all the way through, nothing to worry about, not a single call in the entire 40 minutes worth shouting about.
Skylar Forbes topped the scoring chart with 17 points, and her 10 rebounds gave her the first double-double of her career. Olivia Porter led MU with seven assists and four steals and added 11 points herself, while Lee Volker shot 7-for-12 from the field to add 16 points. Halle Vice seemed ticketed for a double-double at halftime, but had to settle for nine points and six rebounds in a foul shortened 21 minutes of action.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: A week off, thanks to Finals Week. MU will put their six game winning streak on the line next week Sunday when Milwaukee makes the cross-town trip at 2pm Central. The Panthers are 3-8 overall this year and 0-2 in Horizon League action after dropping a 56-55 loss at Robert Morris on Saturday. They’ll host Green Bay on Wednesday night before tangling with Marquette.