Milwaukee, WI — History was made in Milwaukee as No. 4 UConn suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in three decades. In fact, the last time UConn lost consecutive games was in March of 1993. The Huskies could not overcome Marquette, falling to the Golden Eagles 59-52 at the Al Mcguire Center Wednesday night. Earlier this week, UConn lost a close battle to No. 1 South Carolina.
“Something happened, and it started to go the other way,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. “That one stretch in the first quarter where we had four or five straight turnovers, I think that just completely deflated us.”
Marquette’s (16-8, 9-6 Big East) dominant defensive presence turned UConn (21-4, 13-1) over 19 times and held them to a season-low of 52 points. The Golden Eagle’s defense led to their offense, which the team’s veterans led. Chloe Marotta had a near double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Jordan King added 18 points for Marquette.
UConn vs Marquette women’s basketball history
This was the first-ever win over the Huskies and just its second top-5 team win in program history.
“I think mentally we were just drained,” added Auriemma. “There was a collective of something different. Whether it was the residue of Sunday (loss to No.1 South Carolina), something at practice, the trip over…There would be things that we would say on the bench, and we would go out, and it’d be completely opposite. That’s never happened this year… that’s when you know that they are not all here.”
UConn had a solid start to the game going up 6-0, and the Golden Eagles surpassed them with a 10-2 run to go on its own run. The Golden Eagles held the lead the rest of the game, and their largest lead was 13 points in the second quarter. The Huskies were on Marquette’s tail and tied the game halfway through the third, but Marquette regained control to close this Big East match-up out.
Coming up next, Marquette heads into a bye this week and returns at Providence on Feb. 15. As for UConn; they will head to Georgetown to play on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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