The women’s basketball rivalry between Marquette and Wisconsin is back on, and the game on Nov. 8 at the Al McGuire Center showed why it should be scheduled every season.

The Golden Eagles won in overtime, 65-62, in the first matchup of the state rivals since 2017. The tense battle provoked the full spectrum of emotions for MU (2-0), including frustration, pain, fear and then exhilaration.

“These guys haven’t had the opportunity to play Wisconsin before, but I have a lot throughout my entire career,” said MU head coach Cara Consuegra, a former player at Iowa and staff member at Penn State.

“So I knew this was going to be a really tough game. So we talked about that we thrive in adversity and we’re built for moments like this. And I thought this entire game was a lot of adversity in so many different ways.”

MU guard Kennedi Perkins hurts neck in scary fall

There was a very scary moment late in the first half.

UW (1-0) held a 31-21 lead, its biggest of the game, with just over 3 minutes left in the second quarter when MU senior guard Kennedi Perkins fell backward after attempting a running shot in the paint. Perkins’ head collided with the lower right leg of the Badgers’ Breauna Ware.

Perkins stayed down on the court in pain. After play was stopped on the other end, MU’s trainer and two assistant coaches ran out to check on her. The on-site paramedics then put Perkins on a stretcher and brought her to a local hospital with a neck injury.

“She’s OK,” Consuegra said. “They have her at Froedtert, just getting checked out. But nothing serious, just really precautionary.”

The game was delayed more than 10 minutes.

“One of our principles is to stay in the moment,” Consuegra said. “Obviously seeing the stretcher come out, I think was rattling for everybody.

“That’s when we huddled up as a team and, one, let them know she was going to be OK. But, two, understanding we just got to stay in the moment. We can’t change what happened and let’s play hard for our teammate that went down.”

Jaidynn Mason’s big steal part of big run for MU

The game was mostly a slog for the Golden Eagles, who finished with 20 turnovers.

“The first half we didn’t do much of what we wanted to do,” Consuegra said. “So it was difficult.”

UW made all six of its 3-pointers in the first half.

MU kept trying to get over the hump in the second half, but it looked grim facing an eight-point deficit with 2:18 left in thr fourth quarter

But a 3-pointer by the Golden Eagles’ Skylar Forbes provided a jolt of energy. MU’s defense then got two stops sandwiched around a layup by Halle Vice. Forbes’ step-back jumper with 48 seconds left brought the Golden Eagles within 57-56.

• Wisconsin freshman guard Zach Kinziger is considering redshirting the 2025-26 season.
• Wisconsins coach Greg Gard believes Kinziger has a bright future and can learn from veteran players on the team.
• The decision might not be official until the end of the season, Gard suggested.

MADISON — Wisconsin freshman guard Zach Kinziger may potentially redshirt the 2025-26 season, UW coach Greg Gard told reporters after the Badgers’ Nov. 7 win over Northern Illinois.

“Zach came to me probably a week ago, and we talked about it, and he’s contemplating it,” Gard said. “He wants to get his degree from Wisconsin. He wants to contribute at a high level. But he knows he’s got experienced and older guys in front of him that, quite frankly, are older and more experienced, so they have a head start.”

Gard emphasized that he and Kinziger are “still thinking about it,” and there is not necessarily a deadline to make a decision. The freshman from De Pere did not play in either of UW’s first two regular season games. He was the only player who did not see the floor in the Badgers’ 97-72 win over Northern Illinois.

“That really won’t become official until after the season if he doesn’t appear in any games,” Gard said. “But I said right now, if you’re undecided, we’ll just not put you in until we get to a point — and hopefully, knock on wood, nothing happens and nobody gets hurt.”

Kinziger, a former four-star recruit, is among a particularly crowded group of guards. San Diego State transfer Nick Boyd, preseason all-Big Ten honoree John Blackwell and Virginia transfer Andrew Rohde have been Wisconsin’s starters. Others in the rotation include Jack Janicki, Braeden Carrington and Hayden Jones.

If the 6-foot-3 guard indeed sits out his freshman season, that would leave the Badgers with 13 players who are available in the 2025-26 season. Gard’s group is short one player in the frontcourt after Temple transfer Elijah Gray was dismissed from the team.

“His future can be very impactful here,” Gard said. “He’s just got really good guards in Blackwell and Boyd that he can learn from, and that’s what I told him. … ‘Your best teacher and best experience for this year has been eyed up, nose-to-nose with Nick Boyd every day.’ And that’s going to help him more than anything and more than he realizes it right now.”

With potential snow in Milwaukee’s weekend forecast, it’s safe to say winter is on the way.