WBB Meets No. 1 Seed UConn in BIG EAST Semifinals on Sunday

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - The Marquette University women's basketball team plays No. 1 seed UConn on Sunday in the first BIG EAST Tournament semifinal game. Tipoff from Mohegan Sun Arena is at 1:30 p.m. CT.

The game will be broadcast on FS1 with John Fanta (play-by-play), Kim Adams (analyst) and Meghan Caffrey (sideline) on the call.

STARTING FIVE
• In her fifth season at the helm of Marquette women's basketball, Coach Duffy has the best winning percentage of any coach in MU history, going 110-44 (.714) overall and 64-30 (.681) in BIG EAST play.
• Jordan King is the active career scoring leader in the BIG EAST with 1,794 career points.
• Rose Nkumu is ninth in the nation with a 2.84 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Liza Karlen has six double-doubles in the last 11 games.
• Mackenzie Hare is 20th in the nation in 3-point percentage (42.4) and 13th in 3's made (86).

LAST TIME OUT
• Marquette beat Villanova 50-48 to advance to its eighth straight BIG EAST Semifinal.
• Golden Eagles were led by Liza Karlen, who had 13 points and eight rebounds.
• Skylar Forbes added 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks off the bench.
• Mackenzie Hare had 10 points and two threes, both in the second half.
• Marquette held Villanova to just seven points in the third and went on a 7-0 run to finish the quarter to take a six-point lead.
• The game saw eight ties and seven lead changes.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• UConn is coming off a 86-53 win against Providence on Saturday.
• Paige Buecker is the 2024 BIG EAST Player of the Year and is averaing 20.7 points per game, good for 19th in the nation.
• Geno Auriemma is the BIG EAST Coach of the Year.
• Ashlynn Shade was voted the conference's BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST UCONN
• Sunday's matchup is the 21st meeting all-time between Marquette and UConn.
• UConn leads the series, 19-1.
• Marquette's lone win in the series came last year, a 59-52 win at home on Feb. 8, 2023.
• It was the second-highest ranked win in program history. UConn was ranked No. 4.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT HISTORY WITH UCONN
• Marquette and UConn have met three times before at the BIG EAST Tournament.
• Two out of the three meetings have come in the semifinal round.
• Last meeting came during last season's tournament semifinals when UConn won 81-52.

REGULAR SEASON MEETINGS
• Marquette is 0-2 against UConn this season with both losses coming by an average of 28.5 points.
• In the first meeting between MU and UConn this season, the Huskies won 95-64 on New Year's Eve.
• UConn beat Marquette 85-59 in Milwaukee on Feb 10, 2024.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT RECORD UNDER DUFFY
• The Golden Eagles are 7-4 under Megan Duffy at the BIG EAST Tournament.
• Marquette has made it to the semifinal round of the conference tournament in every year under Megan Duffy.
• The Golden Eagles made it to the final in 2020 (lost to DePaul) and in 2021 (lost to UConn).

ALL-BIG EAST HONORS
• Liza Karlen earned unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team honors after career bests in points (18.0) and rebounds (7.7) this season.
• Jordan King was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team after a strong fifth year in which she scored in double-figures in 24-of-29 regular season games.
• Mackenzie Hare was named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention after leading the conference in 3's made with 84 during the regular season.
• Fourth season in a row MU has an All-BIG EAST First Team member.

Keep up with the Marquette women's basketball program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteWBB) and Instagram (@marquettewbb) and `liking' on Facebook (MarquetteWBB).