MU Women's Basketball Thread

[Dr. Blackheart]

Congrats to Altia Anderson on her first ever Big East Honor Roll honor: 

https://gomarquette.com/news/2020/1/20/womens-basketball-altia-anderson-selected-to-big-east-honor-roll.aspx

It's a big stretch of 4 home games coming up for Marquette as teams 2-7 are pretty bunched in the standings right now:

Villanova 5-2
St. John's 5-3
Seton Hall 5-3
Butler 4-3
Marquette 4-3
Creighton 4-3

DePaul is out front at 7-0 and Providence is at the other end at 0-7 and Xavier and Georgetown are solidly near the bottom at 8th and 9th with 1-6 records. 

This upcoming weekend completes the first round of league play.

A good bounce back from a tough Butler loss (where MU went stone cold at the end) with a blowout of X. I enjoyed watching both games this weekend.

[Marquette Fan]

A good bounce back from a tough Butler loss (where MU went stone cold at the end) with a blowout of X. I enjoyed watching both games this weekend.

Yes and I enjoyed the XU game even more since I'm still a little mad they were picked to finish 8th in the BE while MU was picked to finish 9th - no way they should have been picked ahead of MU.  But MU showed they meant business with their 23-4 first quarter lead.

And I was surprised to see they're back in the NCAA Tournament projections today with their loss at Butler Friday:
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

There's a long ways to go but it's nice to see MU in the discussion here especially after all they lost last year.

[SaveOD238]

Yes and I enjoyed the XU game even more since I'm still a little mad they were picked to finish 8th in the BE while MU was picked to finish 9th - no way they should have been picked ahead of MU.  But MU showed they meant business with their 23-4 first quarter lead.

And I was surprised to see they're back in the NCAA Tournament projections today with their loss at Butler Friday:
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

There's a long ways to go but it's nice to see MU in the discussion here especially after all they lost last year.

Creme has Marquette as literally the LAST TEAM IN.  Gotta keep winning, and have to notch a few wins against teams of note in the conference.  They have racked up a lot of wins, but not a single signature win.

[Marquette Fan]

Creme has Marquette as literally the LAST TEAM IN.  Gotta keep winning, and have to notch a few wins against teams of note in the conference.  They have racked up a lot of wins, but not a single signature win.

Yeah I truthfully think they're much more likely a WNIT team but still don't mind hearing Marquette mentioned as a contender for an NCAA Tournament bid at this point (coming into this season I was hoping for a .500 overall record so they could at least be WNIT eligible - so far they have definitely exceeded that).  They don't have any good wins as you say and are likely going to have some not so great losses with the rest of Big East play.  DePaul looks to be the only really strong team in the conference this season.  Creighton has a decent RPI but I'm not sold on them.  I don't think the Big East is likely to get more than 3 teams in the NCAA Tournament and it could very well be only 2 teams.

[Marquette Fan]

Great news today for fans like me who like to watch many different teams in the first and second round of the Women's Tournament:

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2020/01/ncaa-division-i-womens-basketball-championship-semifinals-move-to-espn-first-and-second-rounds-to-be-available-nationally/?fbclid=IwAR0S2Qv6XlSG5hxqq9ZWpyqNkKs_LTzkASBRV8xO8RQnp1JONHYLerItFIw

All the first and second round games will finally be available nationally.  Yeah for the elimination of the awful ESPN whip around coverage - they would stay with #1 seeds winning by over 30 way too long.

[Marquette Fan]

Nice article from Ben Steele in the MJS on the team and their success so far under Duffy:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/2020/01/22/marquette-women-finding-way-under-new-coach-megan-duffy/4544451002/

[Marquette Fan]

One of the annual scream games today as I like to call them as they host kids on a school field trip for their contest against Georgetown at 11:30A central.  This is the first of 4 straight home games over the next two weeks.  Georgetown is one of the worst teams in the BE and this is a game MU should win and needs to win.  Villanova on Sunday is a much tougher opponent.

Link for the BE digital network broadcast:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01OHYknD2s

[Dr. Blackheart]

A nice blow out win over Georgetown. Spingola with 24 today. MU tied for 2nd place now in the Big East.

https://youtube.com/v/AWuBRBs_qQg

[Marquette Fan]

A nice blow out win over Georgetown. Spingola with 24 today. MU tied for 2nd place now in the Big East.

They started off really slow in this one making me a bit nervous - maybe they needed a chance to wake up with the early start .  Yeah Spingola's 9 of 11 shooting from the field was really nice.  This ended up being what it should have been - an easy win over one of the worst teams in the Big East.

There are 6 teams tied for 2nd at 5-3 but each of them plays another 5-3 team tomorrow so it will be a 3 way tie for 2nd after tomorrow:

Villanova is at Marquette
Butler is at Creighton
St. John's is at Seton Hall - that game is on FS1 at 5:30P central and is the annual all-access game with both coaches mic'd up

[Dr. Blackheart]

57-52 win over Nova to move MU strongly into 2nd in the Big East. MU owned the boards with LVK and Spingola both with double-doubles.

Great hire in Duffy. Who says you can't get hire a great new coach at MU?

[Marquette Fan]

57-52 win over Nova to move MU strongly into 2nd in the Big East. MU owned the boards with LVK and Spingola both with double-doubles.

Great hire in Duffy. Who says you can't get hire a great new coach at MU?

Well yes they are in 2nd but it's a 3 way tie for 2nd right now with Butler and either St. John's or Seton Hall pending the result of that game which is going on now.  But it was a nice win and I'm happy to see them tied for second at 6-3 after the first trip through league games.

According to MU, this was LVK's first career double-double. Spingola also hit a couple 3's when they really needed them.  Maddie Siegrist led the way for Villanova with 25 points and it's easy to see why she's most likely a slam dunk for BE Freshman of the Year.

Hope to see them continue their winning ways at home next weekend over one of the worst teams in the BE on Friday night in Providence and against their nemesis Creighton on Sunday - they seem to have trouble with them.

I liked the Duffy hire a lot at the time and it's looked even better to me as the season has gone on.  I'm not sure how long MU will be able to keep her but I'm trying to enjoy the ride for now

[Dr. Blackheart]

I liked the Duffy hire a lot at the time and it's looked even better to me as the season has gone on.  I'm not sure how long MU will be able to keep her but I'm trying to enjoy the ride for now

With UCONN entering the BE, there might be a recruiting halo for Duffy. Also, with Scott and Vernette staying onboard, MU can be a place to groom future head coaches. Both have the potential.

[Marquette Fan]

Congrats to Izzy Spingola for picking up her 2nd career Big East Honor Roll selection:

https://gomarquette.com/news/2020/1/27/womens-basketball-spingola-named-to-big-east-honor-roll.aspx

[Marquette Fan]

Marquette back to first four out in Charlie Creme's bracketology: 

http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

St. John's moved in now with Marquette out.  Marquette and St. John's have the same league record but Marquette has a better overall record and a slightly better RPI according to the NCAA stats and a win over St. John's.  I think Marquette shouldn't have been projected to be in the field after their loss at Butler actually but am surprised to see St. John's in there ahead of MU at this point.  It's kind of a moot point right now though as there's still a long ways to go and Marquette still has to go to St. John's in a few weeks.

[Marquette Fan]

Marquette is back in action tonight at the Al at 7P against one of the worst teams in the Big East - Providence.  This is a game Marquette should win and needs to win especially with nemesis Creighton coming to town Sunday.

Go Marquette!!!

[LloydsLegs]

Nice come back win over Creighton. Team is rolling and alone in 2nd place.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Nice come back win over Creighton. Team is rolling and alone in 2nd place.

Down big at half and came roaring back in the third. LVK with the game winner with 0:04 to go. On the road for NMD (which still leaves me to believe that DePaul MUBB was originally intended to be NMD).

Turnovers returned today. Need to control those.  Way over-exceeding versus the empty closet left Coach Duffy (rebuild).

[Marquette Fan]

Down big at half and came roaring back in the third. LVK with the game winner with 0:04 to go. On the road for NMD (which still leaves me to believe that DePaul MUBB was originally intended to be NMD).

Turnovers returned today. Need to control those.  Way over-exceeding versus the empty closet left Coach Duffy (rebuild).

I personally don't think they look at where the Women's team is playing for NMD.  It's an event for Men's Basketball and since I'll acknowledge that is what 99% of the fans are interested in, I get it.

Yes they had 17 turnovers but with this team I really don't think that's too bad - they had 28 at DePaul after all  .  But they've been having a high number of assists and that wasn't there at all today - only 12 of those.  To me the thing that sticks out is how poor they were at free throws today - only 6 of 13 from the line.  I wasn't happy with a number of calls but had they lost I would have pointed to the free throws and not the calls.

Not the prettiest game at all but great to stick with it after a poor first half with only 6 points in the first quarter and only 19 in the half.  But I'm sure Duffy reminded them at halftime that Creighton trailed DePaul by 20 at halftime Friday and won.  It was a nice win today over a good Creighton team coming off handing DePaul their first conference loss Friday.  And Creighton also beat MU in Omaha earlier this season and seems to be a nemesis of Marquette's.  Jalyn Agnew who seems to be a Marquette killer returned today after missing a number of games.

LVK's winning shot came with less than a second to go.  Originally they had .4 left on the clock but upped that to .7 after a review.  Creighton took their timeout to advance the ball and ended up getting off a nice shot at the end - thankfully it didn't go in and there was no foul called.  Claire Kaifes was my unsung hero today - probably got the most minutes of the season and played well and hit a timely 3 for them also.

This was a nice win for MU who moves into 2nd place alone for now.  They're going to be a half game off a number of teams for awhile since they won't have their one game weekend until the last weekend of the year.  Butler is third at 7-3 and then the teams clumped together - Seton Hall and St. John's at 7-4 and Creighton and Villanova at 6-5. 

It will be a tough road trip next weekend to Seton Hall and St. John's but it's nice to be 17-5 and 8-3 in the BE right now .

[Dr. Blackheart]

I personally don't think they look at where the Women's team is playing for NMD.  It's an event for Men's Basketball and since I'll acknowledge that is what 99% of the fans are interested in, I get it.

Well, it was also the HOF and 50 Year NIT celebration too.

[Marquette Fan]

Congrats to Selena Lott for being named to the Big East Honor Roll this week:
https://gomarquette.com/news/2020/2/3/womens-basketball-lott-earns-a-spot-on-the-big-east-weekly-honor-roll.aspx

And Marquette is back in the projected NCAA bracket:
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

There are 4 BE teams in that projected bracket - DePaul, MU, Creighton and St. John's.  I don't think the BE will end up getting 4 teams in the NCAA Tourney though.

DePaul was #14 overall and a 4 seed in the Portland regional in the the NCAA's initial reveal of the projected top 16 seeds today.  Other Marquette opponents in that list - Mississippi State at #10 and Northwestern at #16 (MU really should have won that game and I think they would have had Lott been able to play).

[Marquette Fan]

Big weekend road stretch at Seton Hall and St. John's - these are teams they will be fighting for positioning for in the Big East.  MU is 8-3 and these two teams at 7-4 right now.  Teams in the top 100 in RPI in the BE right now are DePaul at 20, Creighton at 30 (their RPI improved by 11 with their win at DePaul last week), MU at 35, St. John's at 50, Seton Hall 77, Villanova 88 and Butler 94. 

St. John's looks to be the tougher of these two opponents this season so it would be really nice to start out the road trip with a win at Seton Hall tonight.  Tonight's game is on FS2 at 6P central.

Go Marquette!!!

[Marquette Fan]

Nice bounce back today after a rough loss Friday night at Seton Hall to make it two basketball victories for MU on National Marquette Day.  It was tied at 32 at the half but Marquette outscored St. John's 18-8 in the 3rd quarter and won the game 67-57.  Altia Anderson led the way with a career high 15 points on a perfect 7 of 7 shooting from the field.  Marquette didn't make any 3's but they had a good day in the paint to make up for that.

Marquette moves to 9-4 in the BE and 18-6 overall.  They are in 3rd place right now - a 1/2 game behind 2nd place Butler who is 9-3 and comes to town a week from today. It would be really nice to get two wins next weekend at home.

[Marquette Fan]

Marquette is still projected to be an NCAA team by Charlie Creme this week as a 9 seed facing Michigan.  That would be an interesting match-up were it to happen as MU coach Megan Duffy was an assistant for Michigan coach Kim Barnes-Arico at St. John's and Michigan:

http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology

They are one of 3 BE teams in the projected NCAA Tourney field - DePaul as a 3 seed and Creighton as an 8 seed are the other two BE teams.

[Marquette Fan]

Marquette had an ugly game last night but the important thing is they got the W.  They moved to 10-4 alone in 2nd place in the BE for now just ahead of 9-4 Butler who comes to town tomorrow.  Selena Lott didn't play last night and it would be very helpful to their chances of beating Butler if she's able to play tomorrow.

[SaveOD238]

They moved to 10-4 alone in 2nd place in the BE

Count me among those who did not expect this at all.  With all those seniors graduating and a new coach, I had low expectations.  But it looks like the men and women will both be dancing again this year!