Milwaukee, Wisc. – In women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Milwaukee, Wisc., where they lost to the No. 8 Marquette Golden Eagles by a score of 93-55. With the loss, Villanova falls to 15-9 overall and 6-7 in Big East Conference play, while Marquette improves to 21-3 overall and 12-0 in league action.
Marquette led 14-10 with 2:04 remaining in the opening quarter, when Marquette used an 11-2 run to take a 25-12 lead after one. Isabelle Spingola led the Golden Eagles in the first 10 minutes on a 3-of-4 effort from three-point range.
In the second quarter, the Golden Eagles shot 56.3 percent from the field, including a 3-of-6 effort from three-point range to outscore the Wildcats by a 21-9 margin in the second stanza. Villanova was 4-of-11 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the arc in the second quarter. Marquette's hot shooting help propel the Golden Eagles to a 46-21 halftime lead.
Villanova would not get within 22 in the second half and Marquette would cruise to the victory.
In the loss, senior forward Jannah Tucker led the Wildcats with 15 points on a 5-of-11 effort from three-point range. She also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Junior forward Mary Gedaka tallied 12 points, while junior guard Kelly Jekot added 11 points.
Marquette was paced by senior guard Natisha Hiedeman who scored a game-high 22 points and senior forward Allazia Blockton who had 19 points and nine rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 23-of-65 from the field (35.4%), 8-of-32 from three-point range (25.0%) and 1-of-3 from the foul line (33.3%), while the Golden Eagles shot 52.2 percent from the floor (35-of-67), 38.9 percent from behind the arc (7-of-18) and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-22). Marquette owned a 51-26 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 16, for a home game versus the Georgetown Hoyas. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
NOTES: The Wildcats fall to 7-5 on the road this season…Mary Gedaka is 67-of-99 (.676) from the field over the last nine games…Kelly Jekot has now scored double figures in 19 of the 24 games this season…Bridget Herlihy had a season-high five assists in today's game.
