When we drifted into, I dunno, August or so without a Marquette women\u2019s basketball non-conference schedule for the 2025-26 season, I figured that we weren\u2019t going to get it until the Big East released the conference schedule as well. Either head coach Cara Consuegra was still trying to hammer down a game or two or it took so long to actually get things finalized that it just made sense to wait and go with the league slate in September.<\/p>\n
And then, on Thursday, hours before the Big East announced the men\u2019s basketball league schedules, Marquette announced the non-con slate for women\u2019s hoops. Mind you, the league office did announce on Wednesday precisely when the MBB calendar was coming out. Marquette was given notice that this was going to happen, and yep, they just threw the schedule out there anyway to get swallowed up by the bigger schedule news in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
At least we got start times for the home games.<\/p>\n
Okay, let\u2019s go through it.<\/p>\n
Monday, November 3: vs Winthrop Eagles<\/p>\n
2024-25 Record:<\/strong> 16-15, 9-7 Big South Presuming that the Eagles will stay in the same vicinity of the Torvik rankings that they\u2019ve been for the past five seasons \u2014 somewhere between #327 and #353 \u2014 this is pretty much exactly what you\u2019d expect from a season opener. It\u2019s got an 11am Central start as well, so I presume that this will be a Milwaukee Public Schools game.<\/p>\n Saturday, November 8: vs Wisconsin Badgers<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record: <\/strong>13-17, 4-14 Big East This is the only game on the schedule that we knew about already, as MU and UW announced the resumption of their series back in June. Only this game and next year\u2019s game in Madison are officially on the books, so we\u2019ll see where things go from there. Marquette has won the last three games in the series and five of the last eight.<\/p>\n Tuesday, November 11: at Minnesota Golden Gophers<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record:<\/strong> 25-11, 8-10 Big Ten All eight of the previous meetings took place in the 1990s, which means several of them happened before Marquette switched nicknames to Golden Eagles. MU did win each of the last two contests against the Gophers back then. Minnesota is coming off a WBIT championship last spring, and it\u2019s worth noting that they were the best Torvik ranked team to miss the NCAA field.<\/p>\n Friday, November 14: vs Bowling Green Falcons<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record:<\/strong> 18-13, 11-7 MAC This one is obviously the return bout from the trip to northwest Ohio last season. The other meeting in the series came waaaaaay back in 1992, and so hopefully MU can put a win on the board in this series for the first time ever.<\/p>\n Wednesday, November 19: at Milwaukee Panthers<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record: <\/strong>8-24, 5-15 Horizon League You know who was probably really annoyed to find out that Lee Volker was somehow approved to return to the court this winter? Milwaukee, since Volker hit her first six shots of the game on the way to a career high 21 points and a career high seven steals. Marquette has won the last three meetings and 10 of the last 11 going back to 2009\u2026. and 22 of the last 24 going back to 1996. I do like that Marquette is usually amenable to going to the Klotsche Center for this game when they can get it on the schedule.<\/p>\n Please note the nine day time jump here. Part of that is because Marquette is hosting the Big East volleyball tournament this year, and it\u2019s being played on November 22 & 23. It\u2019s a missed opportunity for MU to get a game in, but there\u2019s only so much you can do when you\u2019re offering to play on the road.<\/p>\n Friday, November 28: vs Iowa State Cyclones<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record: <\/strong>23-12, 12-6 Big 12 That last meeting between these two was in the second round of the 2006 WNIT, and the Golden Eagles would go on to reach the championship game. MU has actually won the last two contests in the series, both in Iowa, and this game will be the semifinal game of the Coconut Hoops event in Fort Myers, Florida. The Cylclones are coming off a #11 seed in the NCAA tournament last year, and they beat Princeton in the First Four before falling to Michigan in the Round of 64.<\/p>\n Sunday, November 30: vs Gonzaga Bulldogs\/Indiana Hoosiers<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record:<\/strong> 24-11, 17-3 WCC That most recent meeting was in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, which is a fun reminder that Marquette\u2019s women\u2019s team has been invited to B4A \u2014 they were supposed to be in the first one ever, but COVID ruined that \u2014 but the men\u2019s team has not. Before that, these two teams met in three straight seasons from 2006 through 2008 with Marquette going home\/away\/home and each team winning their home games. It\u2019s 50\/50 that MU plays Gonzaga here, as the results from the Coconut Hoops semifinal round will determine who plays in the championship game and who plays in the consolation game.<\/p>\n 2024-25 Record:<\/strong> 20-13, 10-8 Big Ten If these two end up facing each other in Fort Myers, it will be the first regular season game between Marquette and Indiana since 1991, as the 2014 game and the 2006 game before that were both in the WNIT. The 2014 game ended Terri Mitchell\u2019s tenure as Marquette\u2019s head coach, while the 2006 game sent Marquette to the final four of the WNIT.<\/p>\n Please note the two week time jump here. Once again, I presume that volleyball is responsible. If athletics is holding use of the McGuire Center on the weekend of December 5-7 on the chance that Marquette hosts the first two rounds of the NCAA volleyball tournament, then there\u2019s not much that can be done about that when it comes to women\u2019s hoops. Again, there\u2019s only so much you can do when you\u2019re offering to go on the road to play someone.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also possible that Marquette will be playing Big East games on the road here. The press release for the schedule says that there will be 10 Big East home games, and the only way that\u2019s happening is if the league is going to 20 games instead of 18 like last year. 20 means a full round robin, so I\u2019m in favor of that. 20 also means that they need to get the games in one way or another before the conference tournament, so that might be right in here.<\/p>\n Another part of the two weeks off? Finals week at Marquette.<\/p>\n Sunday, December 14: vs Le Moyne Dolphins<\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong> #327
All-Time Series:<\/strong> This will be the first meeting.<\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong> #95
All-Time Series: <\/strong>Wisconsin leads, 13-12
Last Meeting: <\/strong>Marquette won, 88-65, in December 2017<\/a><\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong> #38
All-Time Series: <\/strong>Tied 4-4
Last Meeting: <\/strong>Marquette won, 67-57, in Milwaukee in December 1997.<\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong>#136
All-Time Series: <\/strong>Bowling Green leads, 2-0
Last Meeting:<\/strong> Bowling Green won, 64-62, last year in Ohio<\/a> after a furious rally in the final minute fell short.<\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com Ranking: <\/strong>#274
All-Time Series:<\/strong> Marquette leads, 34-20
Last Meeting:<\/strong> Marquette won, 69-51, last year at the McGuire Center<\/a><\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com Ranking:<\/strong> #32
All-Time Series: <\/strong>Iowa State leads, 3-2
Last Meeting: <\/strong>Marquette won, 69-63, in overtime, in Ames back in March 2006.<\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong> #86
All-Time Series:<\/strong> Marquette leads, 3-1
Last Meeting:<\/strong> Marquette won, 70-66, in November 2022<\/a><\/p>\n
2024-25 Final BartTorvik.com<\/a> Ranking:<\/strong>#25
All-Time Series:<\/strong> Indiana leads, 3-1
Last Meeting:<\/strong> Indiana won, 72-69, in March 2014<\/p>\n