(MARQUETTE COMMUNICATIONS) MILWAUKEE – MILWAUKEE – Coming off a career game in Cincinnati on New Year’s Day with 20 points and 19 rebounds, Halle Vice continued her torrid stretch on Sunday afternoon, scoring a career-high 32 points to go with 11 rebounds to lead Marquette to an 85-69 dismantling of Villanova at the Al McGuire Center. The loss was the Wildcats’ first of BIG EAST play as they entered the game 5-0 in the league and 12-2 overall.
While Vice set the tone with 22 points in the first half, Skylar Forbes and Jaidynn Mason each dropped 20. Forbes added eight rebounds while Mason dished out seven assists.
After Villanova knocked down two of its first three shots to take an early 4-2 advantage, Marquette scored 10 unanswered with triples from Forbes and Vice. The two combined for 21 of the of the Golden Eagles’ 23 points in the opening quarter (Vice – 14, Forbes – 7) as they led by nine.
The Wildcats used three 3-point trips early in the second to cut their deficit down to four with three-and-a-half minutes gone. Villanova twice came within two but an 8-0 run by Vice in just over a minute late in the quarter put Marquette back up 10. Four points by the Wildcats in the final minute had MU holding a 42-36 lead at the break.
Stopping Villanova on four its first five possessions to start the third, a steal and runout layup by Mason forced Villanova to call a timeout with Marquette taking its largest lead of the game at 13. Out of the timeout, another stop led to a triple at the top of the key from Forbes. Marquette held Villanova to 1-of-4 from the field and forced five turnovers through the media timeout as MU lead 57-39 with five minutes remaining in the third.
The Golden Eagles took a 16-point lead into the fourth but back-to-back triples to open from Jasmine Bascoe cut the deficit to 12 but Marquette quickly answered with an 8-0 run to go back up 20 in 90 seconds. But five minutes later, that lead was cut in half following a 10-1 Wildcat run. An and-1 from Vice tempered to storm with 1:31 to play and put the game out of reach.
UP NEXT
Marquette continues its two-game homestand on Thursday against Creighton. Tipoff at the Al McGuire Center is set for 7 p.m. CT.
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