The Golden Eagles pick up the season sweep of the Blue Demons thanks to a strong fourth quarter and clinch a top six finish in the Big East.
For a long, long stretch of Marquette women’s basketball’s 82-72 victory over DePaul at the McGuire Center on Saturday, it definitely felt like the Golden Eagles were playing a different version of the Blue Demons than they saw earlier in the season.
That’s not a surprise, and it was to be expected. Jorie Allen didn’t pick up two fouls in the first four minutes, and as a result of not sitting out for 16 first half minutes, she ended up putting up a DePaul high 22 points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal, and two blocks in 29 minutes. DePaul also got Kate Clarke back in the lineup since the two sides met in Chicago earlier this year, and she chipped in 14 points, a rebound, and three assists here.
That’s a lot of stuff on the floor for the visitors at the McGuire Center, so you can’t be surprised to find out that DePaul was up 17-13 at the end of the first quarter instead of MU holding a 16-6 lead like they did at Wintrust Arena. The Blue Demons led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, but an 8-2 burst in the final 2:18 of the half had Marquette up three, 39-36, at intermission. Again: A lot less than the 16 point advantage that they had at halftime last time they played DePaul, but Things Were Obviously Different.
Neither team led by more than 4 points in the third quarter, and it certainly felt like we were in for a duel to the finish when it was 59-58 Blue Demons with 10 minutes to go. And then, everything changed. Jaidynn Mason scored six points in less than two minutes, including a very sick pick-six layup, as part of an 11-1 run for the Golden Eagles. It was capped by an and-1 layup from Skylar Forbes on her way to a new career best 26 points, and that had MU up 71-64 with 6:08 to play.
It was Marquette’s defense that did a number on DePaul in the final frame. A 24-13 score in the final 10 minutes certainly looks like the offense was in high gear, but the fact of the matter is that MU held DePaul without a field goal from 9:04 left in the game until Kate Clarke scored on a layup that MU kind of just let her have with 1:15 to play. 0-for-13 stretched across nearly eight straight minutes. 18-3 Marquette on the scoreboard. Game Over.
Forbes’ new career best led all scorers here, and she just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Jaidynn Mason missed a double-double on 13 points and a career high nine rebounds as well. Olivia Porter got to 18 points, also a new career best, while Lee Volker came tantalizing close to a triple-double on eight points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Oh, and by the way? All of this, combined with Creighton’s win over Georgetown, means Marquette has clinched a top six finish in the Big East this season. Beating DePaul moved MU to finish in the top seven as there were three 10 loss teams at the start of the day, and the Jays’ win edged the Hoyas outside the bounds of where MU can end up this season as well. Why does this matter? Because right now is the first time this season that we can officially say that Marquette is outperforming being picked to finish 10th in the league.
How about some highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and FloSports?
Up Next: Marquette’s next contest is at home, and that’s coming up on Wednesday night. Providence comes to town for a 6:30pm start time on FloSports, and it will also be Pride Night at the Al. The Friars are 4-10 in Big East play after beating Xavier on the road back on Wednesday, and they have to host Seton Hall on Sunday before making their way to Milwaukee.