Consuegra Named BIG EAST Conference Co-Coach of the Year

NEW YORK – Marquette University women’s basketball head coach Cara Consuegra has been named BIG EAST Conference Co-Coach of the Year, the league office announced Thursday morning.

Consuegra guided Marquette to a 20-win regular season in her first year as head coach. The Golden Eagles finished with a 13-2 at the Al McGuire Center, tied for the best home record by a Marquette first-year head coach.

Marquette reached 20 wins in 28 games, tied for the second-fastest road to 20 wins by a first-year head coach in program history with Terri Mitchell. Consuegra was an assistant coach for Mitchell at Marquette from 2004-11.

Consuegra becomes the fourth Marquette head coach to win conference coach of the year, joining Mitchell (BIG EAST 2007, Conference USA 1998, 2000), Carolyn Kieger (BIG EAST 2018) and Megan Duffy (2020).

Consuegra also tied Mitchell for the most wins in February in her first year with six. She earned her fifth BIG EAST road win of the season on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Georgetown, the most conference road wins by a first-year head coach in program history.

Consuegra shared the award with UConn’s Geno Auriemma.

Skylar Forbes was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, the ninth sophomore in program history to be named first team all-conference. Forbes led the Golden Eagles in scoring at 15.1 points per game and had six 20-point games. The Markham, Ontario native scored in double-figures in 23-of-28 games and led the BIG EAST in blocks with 52 on the season, one away from tying the program’s single season record.

Lee Volker was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. The senior averaged career-bests 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while starting in all 29 games during the regular season. The Purcellville, Virginia native scored in double-figures in 20-of-29 games this season and had a career-high 24 points in the road win at Seton Hall.
This marks the second-straight year and 11th time in program history Marquette has had a player represented on both the first and second team all-conference teams.

Fourth-seeded Marquette plays fifth-seed Villanova in the quarterfinals of the 2025 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. Central time on FS2.

BIG EAST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS

BIG EAST Player of the Year: Paige Bueckers, UConn, R-Sr., G
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year: Sarah Strong, UConn, Fr., F
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year: Lashae Dwyer, St. John’s, Sr., G
BIG EAST Most Improved Player: Jorie Allen, DePaul, Gr., F
BIG EAST Co-Sportsmanship Award: Molly Mogensen, Creighton, Gr., G / Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Gr., G
BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year: Ashlynn Shade, UConn, So., G
BIG EAST Co-Coaches of the Year: Geno Auriemma, UConn / Cara Consuegra, Marquette
BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jorie Allen, DePaul, Gr., F (separate release)

First Team*
Paige Bueckers, UConn, R-Sr., G^
Azzi Fudd, UConn, Gr., G
Sarah Strong, UConn, Fr., F^
Lauren Jensen, Creighton, Sr., G^
Morgan Maly, Creighton, Sr., G/F^
Jorie Allen, DePaul, Gr., F
Kelsey Ransom, Georgetown, Gr., G
Skylar Forbes, Marquette, So., F
Jada Eads, Seton Hall, Fr., G
Faith Masonius, Seton Hall, Gr., F
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova, Fr., G

Second Team
Kilyn McGuff, Butler, Sr., G
Lee Volker, Marquette, Sr., G
Grace Efosa, Providence, Gr., G
Lashae Dwyer, St. John’s, Sr., G
Maddie Webber, Villanova, So., G

Honor Roll
Molly Mogensen, Creighton, Gr., G
Taylor Johnson-Matthews, DePaul, Jr., G
Ariel Jenkins, Georgetown, Sr., C
Olivia Olsen, Providence, Sr., F

All-Freshman Team
Sarah Strong, UConn, Fr., F
Khadee Hession, Georgetown, Fr., G
Jada Eads, Seton Hall, Fr., G
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova, Fr., G
Meri Kanerva, Xavier, Fr., G

* Due to a tie in voting, there are 11 players on the first team.
^ Unanimous selection

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.