Skylar Forbes had two 1st quarter fouls and sat out the entirety of the 2nd, but tore Providence apart in the third quarter.
Marquette forward Skylar Forbes picked up her second foul with 2:11 to go in the first quarter of MU’s visit to Providence on Wednesday afternoon. At the time she picked up the offensive foul that sent her to the bench, MU held a 12-10 lead after falling behind 6-3 in the early goings. It was 14-13 Marquette at the end of the quarter, and so it seemed like there was a chance that the Golden Eagles were going to have to ride out the rest of the first half without Forbes.
That’s the choice that head coach Cara Consuegra went with, keeping her leading scorer out of the game, hoping her team could at least keep it even until intermission. Consuegra’s hedge was mostly right, as it was 28-27 Providence at intermission. Marquette’s defensive gameplan seemed to be working as Grace Efosa, PC’s leading scorer, had just three points at the break and was 1-for-8 from the field.
And then the third quarter started. Forbes was back out on the court, well rested, and she leapt into action. The big Canadian had four of her seven field goals in the game in the third period, tallying up 10 of her game high 23 points in that quarter alone. As a result, Marquette blew past the Friars in the quarter, 25-11, and a Lee Volker bucket in transition after a Kennedi Perkins steal staked the Golden Eagles to a 52-39 lead with 10 minutes left.
It got a little bit touchy at the start of the fourth as Providence scored the first six points of the frame, but that just meant that MU outscored them 15-9 over the final six minutes and change to play the final 10 minutes even at 15 points each. Efosa’s second and final field goal of the game on 14 attempts came with 1:56 to go, and that was PC’s last bucket of the proceedings.
Skylar Forbes added four rebounds, two assists, and a team high three steals for a nice all around game. Halle Vice put together a double-double on 13 points and a game high 11 rebounds, while Olivia Porter and Jaidynn Mason tied for the team lead on assists with four each.
Up Next: Marquette returns to action as well as to Milwaukee when they host Georgetown on Saturday. Tipoff on that one is set for 2pm Central, and FloSports will have the broadcast. The Hoyas are 9-9 overall and 2-5 in Big East play at the moment, and they’ll host St. John’s on Wednesday night before venturing to Wisconsin.
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