There was never any doubt as to who was winning on Monday afternoon, only questions about what to clean up for next time.
The first entries in the play-by-play tell you everything that you need to know about Marquette’s 92-37 victory over Division 2 Illinois Springfield in front of several thousand Milwaukee Public School kids.
9:33 — Layup by Sklar Forbes, assist by Halle Vice
9:26 — Turnover by Saharra Murphy, Steal by Jaidynn Mason
9:18 — Layup by Jaidynn Mason
9:09 — Turnover by Diavian Mehundrew, steal by Jaidynn Mason.
4-0 Marquette, two turnovers by Illinois Springfield.
It went about like that.
It was 23-7 at the end of the first quarter with the Prairie Stars getting five of those points in the final 92 seconds. 21-2, and that was pretty much that. Fast forward, and that’s Cara Consuegra’s first win as Marquette head coach.
Yeah, Marquette didn’t quite step on Illinois Springfield’s throat as hard as they could have, as the Golden Eagles didn’t match that kind of a margin through the next two quarters. Yeah, Consuegra was not particularly thrilled with her team’s attention to details. MU’s second to last possession of the first half was a shot clock violation, and their final possession was an absolute mess even though they had 24 seconds after a UIS bucket to work with. Consuegra was trying to direct traffic from the other end of the court to make sure they got a shot off — they eventually did, a missed three from Vice, rushed up before the horn — and Consuegra just straight up sighed, turned her back on the play, and walked towards the end of the bench.
The score was 39-16 at the time, and she was visibly frustrated with her five on the floor.
I would be curious to find out what Consuegra said in between the third and fourth quarters. It was 63-32 heading to the final 10 minutes, and the Golden Eagles uncorked a 29-5 final frame. They held UIS scoreless for the final 7:25, closing out the show on a 23-0 run. It was lopsided when Illinois Springfield made it 69-37, but 92-37 isn’t a true representation of what the first 32 minutes were. I mean, it’s close, but you get the point.
Everyone on the Marquette roster scored in this one, even if it took until less than a minute to go to get Bridget Utberg her bucket in 14 minutes played. Skylar Forbes was the top scorer here, putting up 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting, with only one three-point attempt (a miss) mixed in there. Quite a different version of Skylar Forbes than we saw in the first two contests, and perhaps Jada Bediako starting this one off on the bench had something to do with that. Forbes also tied with Bediako for the team high in rebounds with eight, while three women — Lee Volker, Halle Vice, and Abbey Cracknell — tied for the assists lead with three.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: Marquette is still in search of Consuegra’s first win over a Division 1 foe, and they’re going to have to wait til next Sunday to figure that one out. The Golden Eagles will host IU Indy on November 24th, with tipoff at the McGuire Center set for Noon Central time on FloSports. The Jaguars are 1-3 on the year after beating Evansville in their opener but coming up short against Ball State, Purdue, and Southern Illinois in their next three. They’ll visit Bradley on Thursday before coming to Milwaukee.