Last season Marquette women’s basketball was the 11th-worst team in defensive field goal percentage. This year, the Golden Eagles are making strides to fix that ranking and improve their defense.
“First and foremost we want to protect the paint,” head coach Carolyn Kieger said. “I think teams shot way too high of a percentage on us last year.”
On the perimeter, Marquette was significantly better, ranking 119th out of 349 teams in defensive 3-point percentage. The team was also much better at jumping into passing lanes. Senior guard Natisha Hiedeman led the team with 62 steals. Marquette as a team was ranked 30th in the nation in steals last year.