MILWAUKEE — It was almost a year ago to the day Marquette Women’s Basketball made history by taking down fourth-ranked UConn for the first time in program history.
However, the Huskies were without one of college basketball's most prolific guards in Paige Beuckers who was recovering from an ACL injury.
#MarquetteWBB made history last year taking down then-4th ranked UCONN for the first time in program history.
— Ashley Washburn (@ashleyjwashburn) January 24, 2024
However, the Huskies were also without Paige Beuckers that game. She put on a show tonight scoring a game-high 26 points.
Tonight's 10pm recap: pic.twitter.com/g4Jcy8OMUz
In Tuesday's contest, Marquette (15-4, 4-4) kept pace with (17-3, 9-0) UConn for most of the first half shooting 55% from the floor.
Senior guard Jordan King drained a contested three-pointer with six seconds left in the first half to cut UConn's lead to eight, but Beuckers rebuttaled from half court with a buzzer beater to extend their margin to 49-38.
PAIGE IS ON FIRE 🔥🚨
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) January 24, 2024
From the LOGO, at the BUZZER!!#NCAAWBB x 🎥 SNY / @UConnWBB
pic.twitter.com/q7a9blq9hn
The momentum shift heading into the half opened the floodgates for a lopsided third quarter by UConn. The Huskies outscored Marquette 23-14 in that frame, pulling away to win by 26.
"We talked a lot in the locker room about how UConn's behind us now and we've got to go on a little bit of a tear and a run," Marquette head coach Megan Duffy said. "There's going to be bumps in the season, in Big East play especially. I just want a little bit more fight from our team. I want everybody to kind of turn it up a notch."
Beuckers finished with a game-high 26 points. All five starters finished in double figures for UConn: Ashlynn Shade (15), KK Arnold (13), Nika Mühl (13), and Aaliyah Edwards (10).
"The things that [Paige] does impact each and every player on our team in a positive way," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. "Just her presence on the floor, and she expects so much of herself. She expects a lot from her teammates. She was very vocal today. She's doing about everything that a player can do to help their team win."
Marquette had three players finish in double figures: Liz Karlen (21), Mackenzie Hare (19), and Jordan King (10).
With an 85-59 win over the Golden Eagles, UConn extends its win streak to 13 games and improves to 9-0 in Big East play.
Marquette has now dropped three of their last six games.
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