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Marquette women picked to finish 3rd in Big East Preseason Coaches Poll

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Selena Lott – Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Eleven-time national champion Connecticut is the unanimous favorite to win the BIG EAST Conference women’s basketball title in a vote by the league’s coaches today.  The Huskies, who will begin their first season of BIG EAST play since 2012-13, have won the conference regular season 19 times, along with 18 BIG EAST Tournament titles.  Uconn collected 100 points and 10 first-place votes to top the preseason poll.

Six-time and reigning BIG EAST regular-season champion DePaul finished second in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll, while rival Marquette, which has advanced to four straight BIG EAST Tournament title games, was slotted third.  St. John’s followed in fourth place with 69 points, while Creighton rounded out the top five.

After being picked to finish ninth in the 2019-20 preseason poll, Marquette finished 13-5 in BIG EAST play and advanced to its fourth consecutive conference tournament final.  The Golden Eagles looked well on their way to a national postseason berth after going 24-8 on the year and earning votes in both national polls.  Marquette returns eight letterwinners including three starters from that squad, highlighted by leading scorer and All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree Selena Lott (15.5 ppg) and BIG EAST All-Tournament Team selection Lauren Van Kleunen (11.8 ppg).  Lott was voted to the All-BIG EAST Preseason First Team this year.

Megan Duffy, who was voted BIG EAST Coach of the Year in 2020, has brought in more talent to Milwaukee this year, including Liza Karlen, a 6-2 forward out of Stillwater, Minnesota, who scored over 2,000 points in high school.

Marquette’s Garcia tabbed as BIG EAST preseason Freshman of the Year

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Dawson Garcia

Marquette’s 6’11 forward Dawson Garcia has been tabbed as the BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches.

Garcia, considered one of the elite prep recruits in the country, is expected to make immediate contributions for Marquette.

The Prior Lake, Minnesota native averaged 31.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and finished his prep career with 2,092 points scored.  He shot 56.3 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from 3-point range.  Garcia was the USA Basketball MVP of the 2019 FIBA 3×3 in the U18 World Cup.

The only other Marquette player receiving BIG EAST preseason honors is sophomore guard D.J. Carton, who averaged 10.4 points in 20 games at Ohio State last season.

Creighton guard Marcus Zegarowski was tabbed the 2020-21 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year.  He averaged 16.1 points as a sophomore last season.

Zegarowski is joined on the first team by junior guard David Duke of Providence, Seton Hall senior forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, Villanova senior guard Collin Gillespie and Villanova sophomore forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

Marquette picked to finish sixth in Big East Preseason Poll

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Steve Wojciechowski

With four starters returning from a team that compiled a 24-7 overall record and a 13-5 conference mark, Villanova has been chosen to win the 2020-21 regular-season crown in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll.  The Wildcats, who tied Creighton and Seton Hall for last year’s regular-season title, received nine first place votes and a total of 99 points in the poll.

The Wildcats have now been tabbed for first place in the preseason poll in six of the last seven years.  They have won or shared the BIG EAST regular-season crown six of those times under head coach Jay Wright.

Creighton has been picked to finish second with Providence third.  Connecticut, which has returned to the BIG EAST this season after a seven-year absence, edged Seton Hall for fourth place.

The Marquette Golden Eagles were picked to finish sixth.  Steve Wojciechowski faces the task of replacing the nation’s scoring leader, Markus Howard, from last year.  The Golden Eagles finished 18-12 a year ago.  Their top returning scorer is guard Koby McEwen.

Xavier was picked to finish seventh, followed by Butler, St. John’s, DePaul and Georgetown.

Marquette women fall to DePaul in Big East Championship game

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Selena Lott scored 26 points and Lauren Van Kleunen added 22, but the Marquette Golden Eagles fell 88-74 to No. 15 DePaul in the Big East Conference championship game on Monday night in Chicago.

The Golden Eagles (24-8) shot 58% from the field (29-of-50) but had 27 turnovers to derail their effort.

DePaul (28-5) had three players in double figures, led by Lexi Held who scored 31 points.  The Blue Demons shot 42% from the field overall, but hit 58.3% from three-point range (14-of-24).

Marquette will learn its NCAA tournament fate on Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Marquette women playing for Big East title tonight

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Marquette celebrates Big East Semifinal win! (Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics)

The Marquette University women’s basketball team (24-7) has advanced to the Big East Conference title game on Monday night against the DePaul Blue Demons.  The Golden Eagles beat St. John’s 78-55 Sunday night to advance to the conference title game for a fourth straight year.

The second-seeded Golden Eagles split the season series with the top-seeded Blue Demons (27-5) and will tip off at 7 p.m. tonight at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.  The two teams are squaring off in the Big East Conference championship game for the fourth straight year, the first time in Big East history that the same two teams will meet in the final game in four consecutive seasons.

Marquette shot 56.1% from the field in the win over St. John’s and won the rebound advantage 41-25.  The Golden Eagles have held the rebound advantage in 29 of their 31 games this season.

Howard named to All-Big East first team

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Markus Howard – file photo / Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Marquette senior guard Markus Howard was named to the All-Big East first team for the second straight season on Sunday.

The 5’11 guard finished the regular season as the nation’s leading scorer at 27.8 points a game.  He averaged a Big East-record 28.7 points a game in conference play.

Howard is joined on the first team by senior guard Kamar Baldwin (Butler), junior guard Ty-Shon Alexander (Creighton), senior guard Myles Powell (Seton Hall), sophomore forward Saddig Bey (Villanova) and junior forward Naji Marshall (Xavier).

The Golden Eagles open play in the Big East Tournament in Thursday’s quarterfinals against Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden.  Marquette enters the tournament having dropped six of their last seven games.

Marquette falls at last place DePaul

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Things are going from bad to worse for the Marquette Golden Eagles.  They entered the week with a pair of Big East road games to close out the regular season, trying to find their way with the postseason fast approaching.

A matchup against the Big East’s last place team, DePaul, seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.  But it wasn’t to be.  The Golden Eagles (18-11, 8-9 Big East) fell to the Blue Demons 69-68 in Chicago on Tuesday night, losing for the fifth time in the last six games.

DePaul (15-15, 3-14 Big East) hit 31 of 35 free throws and put all five of their starters in double figures to pull out the upset win.

Marquette senior guard Markus Howard scored 29 points, but no other Golden Eagle player finished in double figures.

The game was tied 32-32 at halftime, but the Golden Eagles hit just 4 of 15 (26.7%) from three-point range in the second half.

Marquette closes the regular season against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

 

Marquette ends three-game slide

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Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Markus Howard poured on 30 points to lead the Marquette Golden Eagles to a 93-72 win over the Georgetown Hoyas on Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum.

Howard, who came in averaging 27.1 points a game, was 10-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point range.  Sacar Anim and Jamal Cain added 15 points each for Marquette (18-9, 8-7 Big East Conference).

Brendan Bailey had 10 points while Jayce Johnson grabbed 11 rebounds to go with nine points.

Jagan Mosely had 19 points and six rebounds for the Hoyas (15-13, 5-10).

The Golden Eagles captured both games in the regular season series from the Hoyas.  Marquette pulled out a 84-80 win on Jan. 18th.

Marquette returns to action on Saturday, playing their final home game of the season, against Seton Hall.

Marquette suffers third straight defeat

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As the regular season winds down, the Marquette Golden Eagles dropped their third straight, falling to Providence 84-72 on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island.

The 19th ranked Golden Eagles (17-9, 7-7 Big East) will most likely drop out of the top 25 polls when they come out on Monday.

The Friars (16-12, 9-6) won their third straight, as they continue their push for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Markus Howard had 38 points on 10-of-25 shooting to lead Marquette.

The Golden Eagles started slow and trailed 43-29 at halftime.  They hit just nine field goals in the first half, while the Friars hit 17 for 31 (54.8%) in the first half, including 8 of 15 from distance.

The Golden Eagles had 10 turnovers in the first half and finished with 18 for the game, their highest total in Big East play this season.

Marquette returns to action Wednesday night against Georgetown at Fiserv Forum.

 

Marquette falls to #15 Creighton

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Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

Creighton junior Ty-Shon Alexander held Markus Howard scoreless in the first half, leading the 15th ranked Blue Jays to a 73-65 win over the Marquette Golden Eagles on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.

The 19th ranked Golden Eagles (17-8, 7-6 Big East) have now dropped back-to-back Big East games against ranked opponents (Villanova – Creighton).

The Blue Jays (21-6, 10-4) have won eight of their last nine games and swept the Golden Eagles in the season series.

Howard entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 27.3 points a game.  But the smothering [Read more…]