Marquette and St. John's Win as UConn Faces Louisville

Marquette and St. John’s secured decisive road and home victories respectively as the BIG EAST women’s basketball slate intensified over the weekend.

The Golden Eagles defeated Missouri State 70-58 on Friday night, while the Red Storm cruised past Rhode Island 68-51 on Saturday afternoon.

Marquette improved to 3-1 on the season after shooting 50 percent from the field on 27-of-54 shooting while limiting the Bears to a 38.2 percent clip.

MacKenzie Givens led the charge with a game-high 23 points, connecting on 9-of-13 field goal attempts alongside a perfect 3-of-3 performance at the free-throw line. Amina Traore contributed eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Yu Han Lin added nine points off the bench for the Golden Eagles.

St. John’s moved to 4-0 by dominating Rhode Island behind an 18-8 opening quarter. Sa’Mya Wyatt scored eight of her team-high 20 points in the first period, finishing 8-of-14 from the floor. Daniela Abies posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Ny’Ceara Pryor chipped in 15 points and seven assists. The Red Storm forced 26 turnovers and controlled points off turnovers 28-9.

Providence fell 75-73 at Boston College after mounting an 8-0 run to tie the game at 71-71 with 38 seconds remaining. Princess Moody tallied 17 points for the Friars and tied the game again with a layup at the 2.5-second mark before Boston College secured the go-ahead basket and a subsequent defensive stop off a turnover. Orlagh Gormley scored 16 points, while Kylah Silver and Payton Dunbar each added 10.

DePaul dropped a 108-84 contest against #13 Notre Dame. Kate Clarke paced the Blue Devils with 20 points for her second consecutive 20-point outing, while Mikaia Litza notched her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 assists. Gina Davorija matched a career high with 15 points, scoring 13 in the third quarter alone. Zoey Ward grabbed 10 rebounds to record her fourth consecutive game with double-digit boards as DePaul recorded 20 assists.

Action continues Sunday with six games across the conference schedule. NC State visits Seton Hall and Butler travels to UT Martin at 1 p.m., with both contests streaming on ESPN+. Howard at Georgetown and Villanova at rv Fairfield at 2 p.m., followed by Creighton visiting Northern Iowa at 3 p.m.

The day concludes with a clash between #4 UConn and #7 Louisville at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN. The Huskies enter behind Sarah Strong’s 24.0 points per game and Olivia Vukosa’s 8.8 rebounds per game. The unbeaten Cardinals counter at 5-0, led by Tajianna Roberts averaging 16.4 points per contest.