It wasn’t a straight forward #BEATEMDOWN, but the Golden Eagles did more than enough to take care of the Bulldogs with ease.
There was a lot going on in the first two minutes of Marquette’s victory over Truman State on Saturday afternoon. It started with Kennedi Perkins starting in place of Jaidynn Mason, which includes Mason not even being present on the bench for the game with an illness. It continued with Perkins going down with a leg injury about 90 seconds in, subbing out, going to the locker room, and emerging with a walking boot on her right foot.
So at that point, the entire game plan went completely out the door and the Golden Eagles had to reset the deck on the fly. Still, it was 18-9 Marquette after they got things sorted out, although 18-12 at the end of the first quarter after a three at the horn from noted Wisconsinite Mallory Ott.
Marquette got the quarter break to adjust a little bit further, and essentially, they adjusted Truman State out of the game. 17-0 MU to start the second period, including six points from Skylar Forbes on her way to a 26 point, 11 rebound, five assist, three block, one steal afternoon. 35-12 Marquette at that point, and then 38-16 at the half.
The third period started to indicate that maaaaaybe Marquette was going to have a little bit of trouble really running away from a Division 2 team that came in under .500 on the year. The Golden Eagles pushed the margin up to 27, but a three-pointer from Mariann Blass, one of four on the day for her, slashed the margin down to just 22, right where it was at the half, with 2:06 left in the third.
And then, once again, Marquette adjusted. 8-0 to end the quarter, including six straight from Halle Vice, which was very nice to see after she was wildly throwing the ball around the rim to start the game. That’s a 30 point lead with 10 minutes left. Through the middle of the 4th quarter, Marquette said, no, really, we’re done messing around, and a jumper from Vice capped a 13-0 run and shoved the margin up to 40, 78-38.
Over the final eight minutes of the game, Marquette outscored Truman State, 21-5.
A couple of rough patches that I bet head coach Cara Consuegra will love to go over on film with her team after they come back from the Christmas break, but considering that Marquette came in shorthanded, then got more short handed, and then stomped all over an on-paper overmatched opponent, a pretty good afternoon of basketball that wrapped up in about 95 minutes.
I already highlighted Skylar Forbes’ afternoon, and I should highlight Halle Vice. As mentioned, she was not having a good time in the first couple of minutes, sending shots wildly all over the place, and not from distance. She finished the day shooting 9-for-12, putting up 22 points, a game high 13 rebounds, and added two assists, a block, and two steals. Olivia Porter led Marquette with eight assists, just missing a double double since she had 10 points, and Bridget Utberg had a big day off the bench with 11 points and was a +19 on a day when she definitely had to play more than expected with Mason and Perkins sidelined.
Highlights, courtesy of GoMarquette.com and ESPN+:
Up Next: Marquette will be off for Christmas until December 29th. Then they’ll be back at the McGuire Center to kick off the remaining 17 games of the Big East calendar. First up is a visit from St. John’s, which will tip off at 6:30pm Central time on the 29th, and ESPN+ will have the broadcast. The Red Storm are 11-2 on the year so far, but 1-1 to start Big East play thanks to a loss to Creighton and a win over Providence. They’ll visit Villanova on Monday, December 22, before shutting it down for the holiday.
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Category: General Sports
