WBB Opens BIG EAST Tournament Saturday Against Creighton

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette women’s basketball team opens its 21st appearance at the BIG EAST Tournament on Saturday afternoon against fifth-seeded Creighton. The Golden Eagles and Bluejays split the season series with each winning on its home court.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT. Every game during the tournament will air on Peacock and NBCSN. John Fanta (pxp), Kim Adams (analyst) and Caroline Pineda (sideline) will be on the call.

THE STARTING FIVE

• Winning its final two games of the regular season, Marquette finished tied for third in the BIG EAST with Seton Hall. It matched the Golden Eagles’ highest conference finish during the last five seasons.
• Saturday will be Marquette’s 21st appearance in the BIG EAST tournament. The Golden Eagles are 15-5 all-time in their opening game. Prior to last season’s defeat in the quarterfinals, MU had reached the semifinals in eight straight tournaments (2018-24).
• On Thursday morning, it was announced that Skylar Forbes (First Team), Halle Vice (First Team) and Lee Volker (Second Team) were announced as All-BIG EAST selections. It marked the first time in program history that Marquette had more than two selections on the league’s First and Second Teams. It was also the third time that MU had two players selected to the First Team (2007, 2023, 2026).
• On Monday, Forbes earned the BIG EAST’s final Player of the Week honor of the season. It was the junior’s first of the year and the second for Marquette. Outside of UConn, no other team in the conference earned more than one this season.
• 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). Starting guard Olivia Porter was lost for the season due to an injury sustained on Feb. 1.

BY THE NUMBERS
3 – Marquette had three selections to the BIG EAST all-conference teams (First & Second) for the first time in program history.
4 – Marquette will be the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST tournament for just the second time in its 21 appearances. MU was also the No. 4 seed in 2025.
982 – With her career winding down, graduate student Lee Volker is nearing the 1,000-point mark, sitting just 18 points shy of the milestone. Volker has scored in double figures in 10 of her last 12 games.

HISTORY WITH THE CREIGHTON

• Marquette and Creighton will meet for the 36th time in their history.
• Creighton holds the series lead at 20-15.
• 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. The Bluejays returned the favor on Feb. 8 in Omaha, erasing a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 80-74 in overtime.
• Marquette and Creighton have met three  times in the BIG EAST Tournament with MU winning each game (2017, 2018, 2021). The Golden Eagles were the higher seed in 2018 and 2021.

MARQUETTE IN THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

• Marquette is 21-19 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament and 12-8 in its tournament opener.
• MU has been the four seed just once, falling last season 73-66 to Villanova. It was the first time in its history that the Golden Eagles had faced the No. 5 seed in a BIG EAST Tournament.
• MU is 13-6 all-time as the higher seed and 8-13 as the lower seed.

PRESEASON TO POSTSEASON
On Thursday morning, Marquette’s top three scorers, Skylar Forbes, Halle Vice and Lee Volker were each named All-BIG EAST. All three were selected to the conference’s Preseason Team in October. Forbes and Vice were unanimous selections to the league’s First Team. It was Forbes’ second time on the First Team while it was Vice’s first time earning a spot on the team. Volker landed on the Second Team for the second straight year.

• The three selections marked a first in program history as Marquette had not previously had more than two players named to the BIG EAST First Team or Second Team in the same season.
• With Forbes and Vice’s inclusions on the First Team, it was just the third time that MU has had two players earn a spot on the First Team in the same season, joining Krystal Ellis and Christina Quaye in 2007 and Jordan King and Chloe Marotta in 2023.
• Forbes ranked fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 15.5 points per game and 17th in rebounding at 4.9 per outing. The junior led the league in blocks for the second straight year at 1.81 per game, a feat that earned her a spot on the BIG EAST’s All-Defensive Team.
• Vice, a first-time All-BIG EAST selection, led the conference in double-doubles with 10. The junior ranked No. 7 in the league in scoring (13.8 ppg) and No. 2 in rebounding (8.8 rpg). Vice was one of the conference’s most efficient players this season, ranking No. 2 in field goal percentage at 55.4%.
• Volker was Marquette’s most versatile player this year, ranking in the Top 3 for the Golden Eagles in six different categories. One of the top 3-point shooters in the country, the graduate student ranked No. 2 in the BIG EAST in 3-point percentage at 43.3%. Volker also ranked 12th in the scoring (12.2 ppg) and 14th in rebounding (5.2 rpg).

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.