UCONN VS. MARQUETTE

Location: Mohegan Sun Arena

Tip: 3 p.m. (FS1)

Records: Marquette 21-9, UConn 27-5.

Last game: Marquette beat No. 4 St. John's in the Big East tournament quarterfinals 57-47; UConn beat No. 9 Georgetown in the Big East tournament quarterfinals 69-39.

Last game’s starters: Marquette, 5-7 G Rose Nkumu (4.9 ppg, 2.8 apg, 1.7 spg), 5-11 G Emily La Chapell (5.0 ppg), 5-11 G Jordan King (16.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.9 spg), 6-2 F Liza Karlen (11.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg), 6-1 F Chloe Marotta (14.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.9 apg).

UConn, 6-3 F Aaliyah Edwards (16.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 bpg), 6-5 F Dorka Juhasz (14.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 3.2 apg), 6-1 G/F Lou Lopez Senechal (15.8 ppg), 6-1 F Aubrey Griffin (12.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 spg), 5-10 G Nika Muhl (7.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 7.8 apg, 1.4 spg).

Noteworthy: Marquette made history on Feb. 8 in Milwaukee when it topped UConn 59-52 to hand the Huskies their second straight loss, the first time UConn lost back-to-back games since 1993. Marquette got 19 points from Chloe Marotta and 18 from Jordan King to beat the Huskies for the first time in 17 meetings. Marquette coach Megan Duffy said she realizes playing UConn in Sunday's Big East tournament semis will be another challenge entirely. “We understand UConn in March is definitely different,” Duffy said. “We're going to treat it as a very separate entity this third game.

We're not resting on what happened at our place and, obviously, we know when it's a one-and-done mentality, we're resetting ourselves. They will, as well.” ... UConn, meanwhile, ratcheted up its defense in Saturday's quarterfinal win over Georgetown. Georgetown was 5-for-36 shooting in the first half for 13.9%, 0-for-15 from 3-point range. Big East Defensive Player of the Year Nika Muhl had three steals and Aaliyah Edwards had a career-high four blocked shots for UConn. “Everything starts there, It always has,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Any time our defense is as good as it was, it's followed very quickly by really, really good stuff offensively . ... I think the players realize this is postseason play; every possession matters.” ... Marquette, making its seventh straight trip to the Big East semifinals, has two all-league first team picks in Marotta and King, both seniors. Mackenzie Hare and Emily LaChapell made the All-Freshman Team. ... UConn's Caroline Ducharme fell to the floor clutching her head with 3:10 remaining in the first half Saturday. She was helped from the floor and did not return to the game. Ducharme has struggled with head injuries, missing 13 games this season while in concussion protocol. Auriemma said Ducharme expressed her desire to play Sunday. “Right now we're going under the assumption that she will unless we find something to the contrary tonight or tomorrow morning,” Auriemma said . ... Duffy, in her fourth season at Marquette, is 87-35, the best start of any coach in program history.