Last Monday’s game against Cincinnati was another ‘Marquette style game.’ Following Marquette women’s basketball is always exciting because it always has that unpredictable ending. The best minutes of the game are always the last five minutes of the game. This was another one of those games.
On Senior night, the last home game of the season, senior Lauren Thomas-Johnson played superbly. With a total of 17 points, including scoring 10 of her 12 points in OT, it was nearly a perfect game. Senior Janelle Harris racked up six points as well, which helped the team come out of a five game losing streak dating back to a February 13 loss to Providence at home.
The game started out close, with the Cincinnati Bearcats leading 12-5 early. The score would remaine close all the way up to half time; Marquette went into the locker room at the end of the half with a 32-28 lead over the Bearcats. During the first half, Jessica Pachko had some great baskets as well, scoring 4 points for Marquette under the basket, and hitting Paige Fiedorowicz for two back-to-back buckets. Fiedorowicz then went on to make two more shots, giving her a total of eleven points before the end of the first half.
In the second half, Tatiyiana McMorris showed off a little with a three pack of beautiful 3’s, netting Marquette 9 crucial points. Pachko returned and put some solid baskets in, putting up a couple baskets in the second half, including her first-ever three-pointer. Scores of both Cinncinati and Marquette in the second half were neck-and-neck, until McMorris and Pachko put Marquette up 57-51, with 4:05 left to play. Then, with 4.5 seconds left, Cincinnati’s Shareese Ulis made a lay-up, tying the score at 57-57.
With five minutes to get the job done in overtime, Marquette got to work early with Thomas-Johnson scoring ten points, and had some help from McMorris, as well as Fiedorowicz who was able to chip in two. Cinncinati, for their part, keep it close with a jump shot by Ulis and two free throws by Kahla Roudebush, but ultimately it was not enough. Thomas-Johnson’s last shot brought the final score to 69-63.
All in all, the game was as exciting as it gets. As Lauren Thomas-Johnson said in her comments after the game, “This game we just smiled…it was a fun game…we basically just had fun.” With a win and an attitude like this, the women’s basketball team was able to carry their momentum for another win at Villanova before tripping up Depaul in a ten point loss.
by Joanna Parkes
joanna.parkes@mu.edu
