Late rally by the Eagles falls short
The Marquette women's basketball team has been resilient all season, but just couldn't get the bounce it needed after a dramatic comeback in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Although the 10th-seeded Golden Eagles clawed back in the final two minutes, their season came to an end with a 70-63 loss to seventh-seeded Virginia Tech on Sunday in San Marcos, Texas.
“I'm proud of them,” MU head coach Megan Duffy said. “And I've been proud of them all year. Just the way they've continued to bounce back in all different situations.”
It looked like the Hokies (15-9) were going to pull away from MU (19-7) after taking a 64-49 lead with 2 minutes and 3
seconds remaining.
The Golden Eagles hadn’t made a three-pointer before senior guard Selena Lott nailed one 10 seconds later.
Virginia Tech then went 2 for 4 on free throws and also committed two turnovers while MU sank a layup and three more three-pointers.
The final triple by MU senior forward Lauren Van Kleunen cut the deficit to 6663 with 39 seconds remaining.
The Golden Eagles forced a miss from Hokies star center Elizabeth Kitley, but the rebound bounced away from the MU defenders and into the hands of Virginia Tech’s Cayla King with seven seconds remaining. She knocked down two free throws to end the Golden Eagles’ hopes.
“It was obviously great to see our fight toward the end,” said Van Kleunen, who scored a team-high 18 points. “We believe we’re never out of the game. Especially in March Madness, you never know what’s going to happen.”
MU put itself in an early hole with 13 turnovers in the first half and allowing the Hokies to rip off a 7-0 run in the final 1:05 of the first half, including a threepointer by Georgia Amoore at the buzzer that gave Virginia Tech a 32-21 lead. The Golden Eagles had just one turnover in the second half.
“I thought a little bit was to Virginia Tech’s pressure,” Duffy said. “I thought they beat us to some 50-50 balls, on loose balls and rebounds. Took it out of our hands a couple times. And that obviously eliminated some possessions for us by giving them the ball back.”
The Golden Eagles also couldn’t contain Kitley, the skilled 6-foot-5 sophomore who filled the box score with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
“Her size is tremendous,” Duffy said. “To have a kid that tall and long with the skill-set she has ... you could see so many possession where she just shot right over us as the double (team) was coming.”
It was a strange season played amid the coronavirus pandemic. MU paused basketball activities for two weeks in the preseason due to a positive COVID test. The Golden Eagles had another positive test in January and the team didn’t play a game for almost a month.
But MU finished second in the Big
East behind Connecticut and fell to the top-ranked Huskies in the Big East championship game. A strong sophomore class led by Camryn Taylor (15 points) got to experience the NCAA Tournament after last season’s cancellation. The program seems to be in a good place after two seasons under Duffy.
“The grit, the determination,” Van Kleunen said. “Just the want to get better this year. I think it’s such a weird year.
“The willingness to come together. I think over the course of the quarantines we had and not the typical year, it was great to see people step up. And it was great to enjoy and have fun with a year that maybe wasn’t going great for some people.”