MILWAUKEE, WISC. – The Villanova Wildcats traveled to Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon where they earned a hard fought 58-55 win over the Marquette Golden Eagles. With the victory, Villanova improves to 9-6 overall and 3-3 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette falls to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in league play.
 
Villanova led 46-44 with 8:15 remaining, when junior guard Brooke Mullin drained a step back three from the right wing to increase the Wildcat advantage to 49-44. After each team traded turnovers, junior Maddy Siegrist connected on a three and Villanova owned a 52-44 lead with 6:53 to play. Siegrist would give the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game at 54-44 on a turnaround jumper in the lane.
 
Marquette ended its scoreless drought that lasted 4:04 and made it a 54-46 game when Danyel Middleton scored on a driving lay-up with 4:54 remaining. The Middleton bucket propelled Marquette on a 9-0 run.
 
The Golden Eagles had a chance to tie the game with 53 seconds on the clock, but Liza Karlen was only able to make one-of-two from the line and Villanova led 54-53. On the game's next possession, the Wildcats got the ball to Siegrist who made a nice move in the lane and hit nothing but net on a 15-foot jumper and the Wildcats owned a 56-53 lead at the 29 second mark.
 
Following a defensive stop, Villanova took a two-possession lead with 16.6 seconds to go when Garzon made one-of-two from the line. Marquette then took a timeout and advanced the ball to the front court, where they got the ball to Jordan King who scored on a driving lay-up to make it a 57-55 game with 10 seconds left.
 
Leading 57-55, the Wildcats inbounded the ball to Siegrist who was immediately fouled. Siegrist made the first free throw but missed the second. Out of timeouts, Marquette raced the ball up the court and got an off balance three by King that was off target as time expired.       
 
In the win, Siegrist led the way with 19 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists, while Garzon tallied her second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Freshman Kaitlyn Orihel scored a career-high 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.
 
Marquette was paced by King with 14 points and Lauren Van Kleunen who added 11 points.
 
For the game, Villanova was 22-of-51 from the field (43.1%), 6-of-24 from three-point range (25.0%) and 8-of-12 from the foul line (66.75), while Marquette shot 48.0 percent from the floor (24-of-50), 25.0 percent from behind the arc (2-of-8) and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe (5-of-7).
 
Villanova returns to action on Friday, Jan. 21, when the Providence College Friars visit the Finneran Pavilion. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
 
NOTES: Marquette was 9-0 at home this season before today's win by Villanova at the Al McGuire Center…The Wildcats have won six of their last seven games…Maddy Siegrist moved past Kathie Beisel and into 14th place on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,341 points…Villanova improves to 5-4 in road games this season.