WBB Hosts Mississippi Valley State In 2026-27 Opener

Tuesday, November 3

6:30 P.M. CT

Marquette University

Mississippi Valley State

11/2/2026 4:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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EPSN+ to broadcast opener at 6:30 p.m. CT

By: Communications

MILWAUKEE - Marquette University women's basketball opens its 52nd season on Tuesday evening against Mississippi Valley State at the Al McGuire Center. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT at the Al McGuire Center and will stream on ESPN+.

The contest will be the second meeting all-time between the two programs (Nov. 12, 2011; MU 69-61 in Milwaukee). MU is 32-19 all-time in its season openers, and has won 17 of its last 20 home openers.

Golden Eagles At A Glance

The Golden Eagles enter year three under Cara Consuegra. Marquette is 39-23 overall and 24-14 in BIG EAST play during her first two seasons.
Marquette has finished in the top four of the BIG EAST standings in each of the last two seasons, tying for third last season.
Marquette returns its top rebounder from a season ago in Halle Vice, who averaged 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while earning First Team All-BIG EAST honors in 2025-26. Vice led the conference in both rebounding and double-doubles (11).
Also returning are Jordan Meulemans (Gr.), Kam Herring (So.) and JJ Barnes (So.).
Marquette welcomes eight newcomers into the fold, including transfers Noelle Anthon (Hutchinson CC), MacKenzie Givens (Xavier), Brooklyn Hall (South Florida), Yu Han Lin (Middle Tennessee), Kayl Petersen (Virginia Tech). The group also includes freshmen Kinley Asp and Se'Crette Carter and French international Amina Traore.
The Golden Eagles must replace 73.2% of last season's scoring following the departures of starters Skylar Forbes, Lee Volker, Jaidynn Mason and Olivia Porter, who combined for 1,179 points in 2025-26.
Vice (13.7 ppg) and Givens (11.7 ppg) rank third and eighth among returning scorers in the BIG EAST. Marquette is one of three teams in the conference with two players among the Top 10 returning scorers, joining UConn (Sarah Strong - 1st, Blanca Quinonez - 10th) and St. John's (Brooke Moore - 7th, Sa'Mya Watt - 9th).

AN OFFSEASON OF CHANGE
Marquette enters the 2026-27 season with a significantly revamped roster following the graduation of four starters and the addition of eight newcomers. The Golden Eagles also added two veteran assistants to Cara Consuegra's coaching staff during the offseason.

MU saw 10 players depart the program following the 2025-26 season, with seven of those 10 graduating.
Consuegra and her staff brought in eight players during the offseason, two freshman, five transfers and a late addition from France.

THE RETURNERS
While Marquette looks very different on paper, four players returned, including All-BIG EAST First Team selection Halle Vice. Joining Vice are graduate student Jordan Meulemans, Kam Herring and JJ Barnes.

Vice has started all 62 games the past two seasons under Consuegra.
After returning to her home state during the spring of 2025 following a knee injury during the third season at Butler, Meulemans appeared in 27 games last season for the MU, averaging 4.2 ppg while making 31 3's on 33.7 percent.
Kam Herring appeared in 12 games as a freshman.
Barnes was sidelined for the 2025-26 season after sustaining a knee injury during October 2025.

THE NEW LEADER
With the departures of four starters, Marquette enters 2026-27 with a clear centerpiece in Halle Vice. The senior averaged 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the floor last season. She led the team in rebounds in 23 games and recorded 11 double-doubles.

Vice has started 62 consecutive games entering the season and is poised to become one of the conference's premier veterans.
Vice finished last season ranked 26th in field-goal percentage (55.2%), 44th in double-doubles (11), 59th in rebounds per game (8.9) and 85th in total rebounds (266). She led the BIG EAST in field-goal percentage, double-doubles and rebounds per game, and was third in total rebounds.

FINAL YEAR
Entering her final season, Jordan Meulemans will look to increase her role with the Golden Eagles. After redshirting the 2024-25 season at Butler with a knee injury, Meulemans worked her way back during the offseason and became one of MU's top reserves. The senior 4.2 points per game and shot 33.7% from 3 (37-of-108).

Prior to her knee injury, Meulemans shot 42.4% from 3 at Butler in 2023-24, ranking fourth in the BIG EAST that season.

WISCONSIN ROOTS
With an abundance of changes to Marquette's roster, two additions were transfers who returned home to Wisconsin in Noelle Anthon (Hutchinson CC) and Kayl Petersen (Virginia Tech). Those additions bring MU's Wisonsin players to four, the most in-state players on a Golden Eagles' roster since the 2018-19 campaign. The Golden Eagles also had four that season.

All four in-state players are within two hours from Milwaukee (Noelle Anthon - Oconomowoc; JJ Barnes - Racine; Jordan Meulemans - De Pere; Kayl Petersen - Waupun).

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Marquette's 2026-27 roster includes two players from outside the United States—Yu Han Lin (Taiwan), Amina Traore (France). It is the fewest international players on MU's roster since 2023-24.

While the Golden Eagles have just two international players this season, both hail from countries that MU has not tapped into before.
Whle Lin comes to Marquette with one year of collegiate experience in the United States, Traore will be making her collegiate debut this season at 22 years old.

SIZE ACROSS THE ROSTER
A point of emphasis for the Golden Eagles during the offseason was to add height to its roster, not just in the frontcourt, but throughout its entire roster. Marquette's staff did just that, assembling the program's tallest roster in the last 20 years.

With an average height of 5-foot-11.8 inches, Marquette's 2026-27 roster is its tallest since 2005-06. The difference from that squad and this year's is that MU's length this season is spread throughout the lineup rather than concentrated solely in the post, providing size and versatility at virtually every position.
The Golden Eagles are nearly one inch taller than last season's squad, which averaged 5-foot-10.9 inches.
Eight of Marquette's 12 players (66.7%) stand 6-foot or taller, while nine players (75.0%) are at least 5-foot-11.
The roster features two players at 6-foot-2, four at 6-foot-1, and two at 6-foot.
Only three players on the roster stand below 5-foot-10.

NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINE
Marquette head coach Cara Consuegra had a pair of openings on her staff to fill this season, and she made the most of those spots. The first spot was filled on the opening day of the portal by Sheila Boykin from USF. The second was a couple weeks later by Joe Silvestri from East Tennesse State whom Consuegra was previously familiar with. Both were tabbed as assistant coaches while Boykin also given the role of recruiting coordinator.