Marquette’s women’s basketball team upset No. 4 UConn 59-52 on Wednesday, handing the Huskies their first back-to-back loss in 30 years. Here’s what you need to know:
Backstory
The Huskies are 21-4 overall this season and 13-1 in the Big East. They entered Wednesday’s contest coming off a loss to No. 1 South Carolina in which the Gamecocks held off UConn in a rematch of the 2022 NCAA title game to remain undefeated at 23-0 on the season. Earlier this season, UConn fell to Notre Dame on Dec. 4 and Maryland on Dec. 11. The Huskies face Georgetown, which sits 5-10 in the Big East, on Saturday.
Marquette’s victory was the team’s first-ever win over UConn and its second win over a top-five team in program history (the first came over No. 3 Texas on Nov. 19).
What went wrong for the Huskies?
The fatigue is catching up for UConn. After an emotionally-charged game against South Carolina on Sunday, the Huskies had eight players available but only really used five, as the three bench players combined for 11 total minutes and zero points in the defeat. UConn had been shooting 52 percent from the field and 75.7 percent from the foul line before Wednesday; those figures cratered to 40.4 and 58.3, respectively, against Marquette, and the Huskies appeared worn out and mentally spent….
