The J

Halle Vice led Marquette with 22 points in its 77-65 win over Xavier.

Marquette women’s basketball entered its Wednesday night date with the Xavier Musketeers having suffered four losses in a row, the most in Cara Consuegra’s head coaching tenure.

For the Golden Eagles (17-11, 11-8 Big East), a senior night welcome for a conference foe who had lost 9 of their last 10 was a clear get-right chance. And it was, eventually, ending in a 77-65 win.

Yet early on, not much was “getting right” for Marquette.

The Golden Eagles finished the first quarter shooting 33%, turning the ball over three times and giving up 18 points the Musketeers (11-17, 4-15) — who have the worst offense in the Big East and 198th best in the country.

“In the first quarter there was some tomfoolery going on and we weren’t quite as focused as we should have been,” Consuegra said. 

With the opening period’s “tomfoolery” behind them, the Golden Eagles rallied back.

A tough and-one layup from senior guard Kennedi Perkins with 2:53 left in the second quarter gave Marquette a 25-23 lead, their first since the early stages of the contest. Back-to-back threes from junior forward Skylar Forbes and senior guard Bridget Utberg put the Golden Eagles up six with 47 seconds to go in the first half.

Following a quick Xavier miss, Marquette failed to get a shot up in the waning 19 seconds, and the blue & gold went into the locker room ahead 32-26.

Out of the half, hints of the aforementioned tomfoolery reappeared. On consecutive possessions, Xavier capitalized on a Marquette turnover to bring it back to a one-possession game, 32-30.

This time around, Marquette’s offense was there to cover. Senior guard Jaidynn Mason assisted junior forward Halle Vice for a pick & pop three. Senior guards Lee Volker and Kennedi Perkins joined the night’s festivities with a layup and three of their own. And, Marquette led 40-32, its largest advantage at the time. 

As both squads traded blows, Halle Vice dominated in the paint. In the third quarter, the junior went 4-of-6, was the only Golden Eagle to make more than one shot and was the lone Marquette scorer in the last 5:20 of the period. 

“I just played for the seniors tonight,” Vice said. “I played for this program.” 

Marquette entered the final quarter leading 51-45 and another convincing Kennedi Perkins layup gave the Golden Eagles a 53-45 edge. Still, there wasn’t a coroner in sight as the Musketeers sparked a 7-0 run to bring the game within one point, 53-52. 

Although the quarter morphed from third to fourth, nothing about Vice’s prolific play changed. Two layups of hers bookended a tip-in from Xavier sophomore guard Mackenzie Givens, as the Golden Eagles recaptured a three-point lead. From there, Vice and Co. didn’t look back. 

“I felt like we were just letting Xavier hang around,” Consuegra said. “If you let them hang around, they’re going to gain confidence, and they’re going to take their punches, and they’re going to have a chance.” 

Xavier’s fighting chance was annulled via two more Vice layups, a Volker three and Forbes and-one that brought the Golden Eagles up double-digits for the first time.

For nearly five minutes in the final period, the Musketeers were held to just four points. This, thanks in large part to senior guard Bridget Utberg, who posted a +17 on the night — despite scoring only three points off one 3-pointer — was a key piece of the fourth quarter put-away.

“I thought she was making winning plays,” Consuegra said. “I felt confident that [Utberg] would be able to make those plays, and she did.” 

Marquette ended the game shooting 8-for-8 in the last six minutes. Vice finished the night with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and contributed to four of the last eight made Golden Eagle field goals.

“In practice, we’re always focused on finishing,” Vice said. “It’s something that is just built into us and our culture and we all believed in each other that we could finish that game.”

Marquette now ends its regular season with a visit to the Providence Friars on Sunday, March. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CST.