The Villanova Wildcats were defeated 90-69 by Marquette on Friday at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, WI.

This matchup featured two of the top teams in the Big East and although the final score doesn’t show it, the contest was tight for the majority of the game.

The game got off a quick start, with both teams trading baskets back and forth. Early in the first, Kelly Jekot left the game with an injury but returned later in the quarter. At the first timeout break, the Wildcats led 10-8 with 4:32 left in the quarter. Bridget Herlihy brought energy off the bench, recording two blocks and a steal that finished in a fast break layup. At the end of the first quarter the game was tied at 17, as Louin led the ‘Cats with seven points.

The second quarter began in a similar fashion to the first, with the ‘Cats and Golden Eagles trading baskets early on. Villanova led 32-29 at the first commercial break of the second, with just over three minutes to go until halftime. Marquette caught fire towards the end of the quarter, going on a 10-2 run which resulted in a 39-34 lead at the half.

Villanova was 13-of-32 (40.6%) from the field at the half and 5-of-15 (33.3%) from beyond the three-point line. Alex Louin led the ‘Cats with ten points followed by Mary Gedaka, who tacked on eight of our own.

The Wildcats started with the ball in the third and two quick baskets from Kelly Jekot cut into the Villanova deficit. However, Marquette managed to stay ahead and led 48-43 with 4:53 to go in the third quarter. This trend continued for the Golden Eagles as they held a game high seven-point lead, 59-52, entering the fourth.

The fourth quarter did not start off well for the ‘Cats, as Marquette began to run away with the game. The score was 65-52 when Head Coach Harry Perretta called timeout with 8:07 left in the game. After the timeout a jumper and three-point ball from Alex Louin cut the deficit to eight. Marquette answered on the following possession to extend the lead to ten with just over six minutes remaining. From this point on, Marquette took over en route to a dominant 90-69 victory.

In a losing effort, Alex Louin led the Wildcats with 20 points. With this scoring output, Louin passed Denise Dillon into ninth on Villanova’s all-time scoring list with 1,365 career points.

After the loss, Villanova remains third in the Big East standings. The ‘Cats are back in action on the road this Sunday at 3:00, in a pivotal matchup against conference leading DePaul.