WBB Travels to Omaha for Sunday Matinee With Bluejays

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women’s basketball team heads to Creighton this weekend, riding its longest win streak of the season at five games. The Golden Eagles look to go for their first season sweep of the Bluejays since 2021.

Tipoff from D.J. Sokol Arena is set for noon CT on Sunday. Elise Woodward (pxp) and Kim Adams (analyst) will be on the call for FS1.

THE STARTING FIVE

• Following back-to-back defeats during the middle of January, Marquette has turned to its defense in recent weeks to turn the tide. The Golden Eagles have held four of their last five opponents to 61 points or less. The one that scored over 70, DePaul, which scored the most points against MU since Dec. 29, was held to just 35.9% shooting from the field though.
• The offense hasn’t bad either as its continued to hum along in recent weeks. The last four games have seen the Golden Eagles shoot above 50% from the field. MU has eclipsed that mark 11 times this season, matching the 2023-24 team’s season output. Marquette ranks No. 22 nationally in field goal percentage at 46.5%.
• Picking up an injury during the second week of January, Halle Vice has returned to from in the past two weeks, breaking out for 23 points at Butler on Jan. 25. The last three games have seen the junior record three straight double-doubles. Vice’s 10 double-doubles is four clear of the next most in the BIG EAST.
• Bolstered by a pair of 20-point performances, Lee Volker has stepped up her scoring recently, averaging 15.0 points per game during her last seven. A chunk of those points have come from beyond the arc where the grad student has shot 50% during the stretch (19-of-38).
• Marquette’s strength this season comes in its experience and continuity as the program is the only one in Division I women’s college basketball to return all of its players from the 2024-25 season. Though everyone returned, the Golden Eagles have had just two games this season (Winthrop, Georgetown) with everyone available (excluding J.J. Barnes and Aryelle Stevens who were ruled out for the year heading into the season).

BY THE NUMBERS
55.2% – During its most efficient four-game shooting stretch of the season, Marquette has shot 55.2% from the field in its last four games. That includes three games over 50% and a 64.4% outing against DePaul.
22 – Scoring just 21 points combined in her previous two games, Skylar Forbes dropped 22 on Wednesday versus Providence. It was the junior’s first 20-point game since Jan. 4.
10 – Halle Vice collected her league-leading 10th double-double on Feb. 4. It was her third straight after not recording one in three straight games. She is up to 16 for her career.

FLASHING BACK – GAME 23 VS PROVIDENCE

• Marquette won its 17th straight game over Providence.
• MU shot 51.7% from the field, its fourth game in a row shooting over 50%.
• The win was MU’s fifth in a row, its longest streak of the season.
• Halle Vice record her 10th double-double of the season and third straight, collecting 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• Skylar Forbes finished with 22 points, the junior’s most since scoring 26 on Dec. 20.
• Lee Volker notched double figures in the scoring column for the sixth time in the last seven games, finishing with 19.

HISTORY WITH THE BLUEJAYS

• Marquette and Creighton will meet for the 35th time in their history.
• Creighton holds the series lead at 19-15.
• The Golden Eagles had just one win in the series during the last three seasons (1-4) entering this year.
• MU took the first game of this season’s series 67-49 on Jan. 8, holding Creighton to just 30.0% shooting overall and 23.1% from 3.

DEFENSE IS TRAVELING
In BIG EAST play, Marquette has put its defense on display on the road. In seven games, the Golden Eagles have held five opponents to 60 points or less on their home courts.

• Excluding UConn which scored 89, 25 more points than the next closest team, MU is allowing 57.7 points per game to BIG EAST opponents on the road.

MAKE ‘EM COUNT
The charity stripe this season has been just that–charity for Marquette–as the team is shooting 77.7%, the 18th-highest mark in the NCAA this year. MU has shot 80% or better 10 times this season.

• Though the Golden Eagles rank highly in percentage, they struggle to get to the line. MU ranks 338th out of 359 in attempts per game, averaging just 12.7 per contest.
• On Dec. 20, the Golden Eagles went 14-of-14 from the line. It was the first time MU has shot 100% from the line with more than 10 attempts since Feb. 25, 2012.

A WALKING DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Recording her 10th double-double of the season on Feb. 4, Halle Vice continues to lead the BIG EAST in the category. The junior had just one double-double through the first five weeks of the season but has recorded six during an eight-game stretch from Dec. 14-Jan. 14. Working through an injury, Vice was without one for a three-game stretch before recording one in each of her last three outings.

• Her stretch of four straight games (Dec. 20-Jan. 4) with a double-double is the longest stretch of consecutive double-doubles by a Golden Eagle since Erika Davenport had a double-double in five straight games in 2019 (Jan. 11-25).
• Vice’s 10 double-doubles ranks 22nd in the NCAA. Nine of them have come in her last 14 games.

ELITE COMBINATION
Not just a shot blocker, not just a 3-point shooter, Skylar Forbes is proving this season that she is both. Forbes is currently shooting 37.7% from deep while also posting 1.95 blocks per game (25th).

• Forbes is the only player in the country currently averaging 1.9 blocks per game and shooting over 37% from 3 (min. 20 attempts).
• Forbes is one of four players in the country who has attempted at least 100 3-pointers while averaging 1.9 blocks per game.

DIALING UP FROM LONG DISTANCE
A 41.5% 3-point shooter a season ago, Lee Volker has bumped that number up to 43.9% this year and ranks 16th in the NCAA. That number has the grad student 1% behind her former AAU teammate Azzi Fudd for the top spot in the BIG EAST.

• Volker has shot over 50% from 3 in five of the last nine games.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.