Villanova edges Marquette, 54-52, behind Maddy Siegrist’s third straight double-double

It was a battle of the stars on Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Maddy Siegrist for Villanova, and Jordan King for Marquette.

Both led their team with double-doubles, but Siegrist’s group ultimately came out on top as the Wildcats escaped with a 54-52 road victory over the Golden Eagles.

Siegrist paced Villanova (10-3, 2-1 Big East) with 21 points and 11 rebounds marking her third consecutive double-double and seventh of the season.

Two other Wildcats also scored in double figures. Sophomore Lucy Olsen chipped in 13 points to go along with five rebounds and junior Maddie Burke finished with 12 points, including three 3-pointers.

King led Marquette (9-4, 2-2 Big East) with 23 points and 11 rebounds while fellow senior Chloe Marotta added 10 points and nine boards.

With two teams that average more than 70 points per game, Wednesday’s matchup was expected to be an offensive battle. But with stifling defensive performances from both squads, the teams combined for just 49 first-half points and finished the game with more than 15 points below their season average.

Siegrist single-handedly kept the Wildcats in the game early. The forward scored the team’s first 10 points before Burke drilled two deep shots to end the first quarter and open the second. For Olsen, the first half looked similar to the Creighton and Iowa State losses, where intense pressure slowed her down. But the sophomore found her rhythm in the second half, scoring all of her points.

Keeping the rebounding battle tight was crucial for Villanova against a Marquette team who has been dominant on the boards. A key to this success was the Wildcats drawing two early fouls on Marotta, the Golden Eagles’ leading rebounder, resulting in the senior sitting out the entire second quarter.

Trailing, 40-36, with 48 seconds remaining in the third, Burke drew a foul on a three-pointer and hit all three from the line. On the next possession, Siegrist drew a charge on Marotta and followed it with a floater off the backboard on the other end to take a 41-40 lead into the final 10 minutes of play. It was the beginning of a 12-2 run for Villanova, as the team would never trail again, despite Marquette causing a bit of a nail-biter to bring the game to within one point with seconds remaining.

Following the win, Villanova will travel to Xavier (7-6, 0-4 Big East) on Jan. 1 (noon, FloSports). The Musketeers are looking to break a three-game skid and pick up their first conference victory.