The clock on women’s college basketball games runs 40 minutes, and for the first 10 on Sunday, the Penn Quakers looked like they belonged on the same court as the No. 23 Marquette Golden Eagles. Penn even had the lead for a few ticks.
After 10 more minutes and a 10-2 run for Marquette, the differences were more clear. Marquette has a potent, balanced offense and a stingy defense, while Penn has some talent and some work to do.
But it was the third 10-minute stretch that burst whatever bubble of hope the Red and Blue had, as Marquette rattled off 32 points to Penn’s nine and put the game way out of reach on the way to an 87-52 victory.
Now 8-0 for its best start in program history, Marquette is averaging about 83 points a game by shooting an insane 51.9% from the field. On Sunday it did even better, hitting 57.9%, including half of its threes. That was the work of sophomore guard Mackenzie Hare, whose 19 points included five straight threes before she missed one.
In some ways, Marquette is the balanced, disciplined team Mike McLaughlin’s Penn squad aspires to be. Both teams move the ball well, and move well without the ball, but for the fifth time this year it was Marquette that collected more than 20 assists, and it committed just 13 personal fouls to Penn’s 20. Hare is one of four Golden Eagles averaging in double figures in points, and Frannie Hottinger’s 20 on Sunday almost pushed her into the club.
Hottinger, a 6-foot-1 senior, and Skylar Forbes, a 6-foot-3 freshman, were two big reasons Marquette dominated inside, pulling down 18 of the team’s 37 rebounds (to Penn’s 29) and contributing to a 40-22 difference in points in the paint. But Marquette also thrives when the tempo picks up, and it outscored Penn 23-2 on fast breaks.
Nor could Penn connect from outside the arc: It went a paltry 3-for-17. That’s no way to score an upset.
Bright spots for Penn start with freshman guard Mataya Gayle, who had a game-high 23 points on 9-for-22 shooting. She gave up four turnovers but never seemed flustered by the Golden Eagles’ defense, and was effective on defense (with three steals) without getting into foul trouble.
Senior forward Jordan Obi contributed pretty much the rest of the Quakers’ offense: 17 points to go with five rebounds and three blocks.
And Floor Toonders had a solid 19 minutes in her second game back from injury: The senior forward picked up her first basket of the season along with seven rebounds and a block.
Penn (5-3) returns to Philly for its second game in a row against a challenging Big East team — Tuesday night at Villanova (5-2), which lost a squeaker Sunday at Columbia after wins against Temple, Holy Cross, Wake Forest and Richmond.