The missed layups were the problem on Monday night against St. John’s, but there’s an argument to be made that Marquette women’s basketball had a lot bigger problems than that against the Red Storm.
As I was starting to put together this preview, I couldn’t help but notice that the game against the Red Storm was Marquette’s second worst Game Score on BartTorvik.com of the season. The only time this season that MU looked statistically worse than that is when the Golden Eagles got run off the floor by Minnesota in their third game of the year. You can overlook a clunker when the clunker comes with a 40+ point deficit. A clunker when you lose by seven? And were tied with less than five minutes left? That’s harder to stomach, particularly when it was a game that Marquette kiiiiiiiinda needed to put together a postseason resume.
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But it’s in the past now. Cara Consuegra has to pick her team up from that and move them forward to the next task in front of them. She can focus them on getting a win on New Year’s Day. Here in this preview, I can point out that Marquette really does not want one loss to turn into two….. because Villanova comes to Milwaukee on Sunday, and then Creighton on Thursday, and then it’s time to visit Seton Hall on the Wednesday after that. You have to grab the opportunities in front of you, and on paper, Thursday afternoon (it’s a noon start on New Year’s Day!) is a chance to grab one and make sure that one loss doesn’t have the chance to turn into five.
Big East Game #5: at Xavier Musketeers (8-5, 1-3 Big East)
Date: January 1, 2026
Time: 12pm Central
Location: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Streaming: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Twitter Updates: @MarquetteWBB
Marquette is 25-7 all time against Xavier. The series started back in 1985 and was pretty even through the first nine encounters. The Musketeers won three of the first five meetings between the two teams once XU joined the Big East, but the Golden Eagles have now won 18 straight in the series, including 62-37 in the home finale last season as the most recent encounter.
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Xavier’s search for a third Big East win under the direction of Billi Chambers continues. The Musketeers are greatly improved over where they were last season when they went 7-24 overall and 1-17 in the Big East, especially on the offensive end of the floor, but they’re still 1-3 in the Big East after falling 75-55 to Seton Hall on Sunday in their first game back after the Christmas break. The real bummer of that one for Xavier? It was a three point game at halftime and tied with four minutes left in the third quarter. SHU won the final 14 minutes by a score of 36-16, a lot of which was in the fourth quarter, which went 26-12 to the Pirates.
That ended up being a second straight loss for the Pirates, but they’ve only lost two in a row max this season. They had home losses to Dayton and Kent State back in November, and now these two, first Butler, then Seton Hall, both on the road. I’d imagine it’s pretty important to them to avoid a third straight loss, especially when they can do that and have twice as many Big East wins as they did last year at the same time.
It is possible that Marquette may be able to shoot their way through this game. The Golden Eagles are #5 in the country in three-point shooting percentage, connecting on just over 39% of their attempts this year. Xavier? Just under 26%. If MU has an average day and XU has a good day, that’s still a big advantage for the visiting team in Cincinnati. On top of that, Xavier is one of the worst teams in the country at letting opponents fire off three-pointers. They’re #345 in three-point attempt rate, with Xavier’s opponents getting 42% of their shots from long distance. If the Musketeers are going to be leaving anyone in MU’s starting five open to shoot, Marquette can make them pay for it.
Xavier’s top two scorers are Mariyah Noel and Mackenzie Givens. They’re the only two double digit scorers on the team at 15.0 and 11.4 points per game respectively. While Xavier, the team, is bad at shooting from distance, Noel is not. She’s cashing in nearly 36% of her attempts, and she’s getting off more than three per game. The 5’11” guard is also a very important rebounder for the Musketeers, coming in second at 6.5 per game to Savannah White’s 7.1 a night.
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