The Marquette women’s basketball team had to settle for closing the gap on the nation’s No. 1 team.
Beating UConn remained elusive.
The Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles for the eighth straight time Saturday, Feb. 14, scoring a 71-56 final that raised their record to 27-0 overall and 16-0 in the Big East.
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Marquette dropped to 16-10 and 10-7, but gave a better accounting for itself than its 89-53 loss to the Huskies on the road Dec. 17. The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as 46 points in that game.
Saturday, MU trailed, 36-24, at the half and was behind by just eight points with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, but a 17-4 UConn run pushed its lead to a then-game high 21 points early in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies 1-2 punch of graduate guard Azzi Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong combined for 47 points.
Fudd had 17 points in the first half and 11 in the second quarter when she sparked a 16-4 run to end the half. Strong dominated the third quarter. She had 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting in that quarter.
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Junior guard KK Arnold, a graduate of Germantown High School, added 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds and spearheaded a defensive effort that forced 22 turnovers and held Marquette to 37.5% (21 of 56) shooting.
More: Who are the players on No. 1 UConn women’s team with Wisconsin ties?
Graduate guard Lee Volker led the Golden Eagles with 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Skylar Forbes added 12 points and seven boards, while senior guard Jaidynn Mason posted 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Check jsonline later for more on the game.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette women fall to No. 1 UConn, 71-56
