While most of their classmates are home, taking a break from books and enjoying home cooking and free laundry, the Marquette women's basketball team has been hard at work this weekend.
As hosts of the WBCA Classic at the Al McGuire Center, the Golden Eagles are finding out just how good of a team they are after opening the season 4-0.
Victories against Oral Roberts, Sacred Heart, Indiana State and Western Michigan were nice, but taking on teams from power conferences and in or near the top 25 gives the team a chance to see just where it rates with Big East Conference plays looming right around the corner.
Aside from Marquette, which received 30 votes in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll, No. 16 Virginia (2-1), Gonzaga and Utah (each received three votes) rounded out the four-team field for the round-robin format tournament.
"We picked this tournament for a reason," Mitchell said. "We brought in three winning teams with awesome coaches and great tradition so we could get ready for the Big East."
If the first two games are any indication, the Golden Eagles are ready for the challenge.
Opening with a come-from-behind, 80-77 victory over Gonzaga, Marquette showed the type of late-game poise and composure lacking at times last season. Down eight with seven minutes to play, Mitchell's team stayed aggressive and focused, finally taking the lead for good late and stifling a ferocious Bulldogs' comeback attempt in the final minutes.
"We probably would have lost (that) game last year," Mitchell said. "I just know how our team was playing last year at this time, we lost the close games. So this is definitely a step forward."
The Golden Eagles got big time contributions from Paige Fiedorowicz, who led the way with 21 points. A balanced offensive attack led to three more players finishing with 12 points or more; the kind of firepower needed to make a mark in league play.
"It shows how we've matured as a team," said Fiedorowicz, who scored 21 in the opener. "This is a great opportunity to get ready for the Big East. These teams are all very good."
The success, though, didn't come without a cost. The Golden Eagles lost Jocelyn Mellen for the season in the tournament opener when the redshirt sophomore tore an ACL and likely sidling her for the rest of the season.
It was painful to watch and a sobering experience for a closely-knit team that just won a big game, but again ... Mitchell was able to find a lesson in the experience.
"We were down two starters just two minutes into the game," Mitchell said. "I kept talking to the team about character and showing character when it's tough."
Things didn't go so well Saturday night, when the same poise and focus that led the Golden Eagles to victory on Friday disappeared down the stretch in a 76-71 loss to Virginia. Marquette held a 14-point lead early in the second half, but saw it slip away down the stretch as the same focus and composure that led to a victory against Gonzaga disappeared.
The Golden Eagles shot 36 percent from the field and converted just 8 of 22 three-pointers. But even in defeat, Mitchell says the experience was good for her team, which won't have much time to dwell on the loss before facing Utah at 5 p.m. today.
It's these kind of tough games that Mitchell thinks will make her team better when conference season kicks off on January 3 against South Florida. Three teams playing three different styles of basketball in a three-day span -- plus a trip to Northwestern on Tuesday -- provide the type of learning opportunities that no practice or early-season cupcake opponent can.
So at 5-1, where do the Golden Eagles, last year's WNIT Champions, stand? The coach isn't ready to make a prediction; she knows her team is still coming together.
"It's the sixth game of the year," Mitchell said. "This is the time that we're going to learn about ourselves and get better. "Right now it's about character. It's a character-check.
"You just lost an emotional game, will you come back tomorrow with a lot of fight? Knowing my team, I believe they will."
