Lady Bulldogs Season Ends with 47-63 Loss to Marquette
- RoMoAthletics
- Mar 6
- 4 min read
March 6th, 2026
Facing the #1 Seed in Class 6 District 2, Marquette was going to be a tough assignment for the Lady Bulldogs based upon the 61-71 loss to them in the Championship game of the Mitch & Terisa Esquibel Holiday Hoops Tournament. That assignment got a lot tougher without the All-State 5’8” Jr guard, Rylee Dodson who was lost for the season due to injury in mid-January.
The young Lady Bulldogs battled throughout the game but were unable to get over the hump and ended their season at 17-11.
Getting Down Early
The challenge for any team is consistency. When you have a young team, that might be even more of a challenge. The Lady Bulldogs which features only 1 senior on the roster, in 5’8” Sr All-District guard Mariah Watkins and the lone junior, Dodson, is out for the season, the rest of the squad is made up of sophomores and juniors.
Starting 3 freshmen allowed them to grow up faster than most, especially with the quality of schedule this year’s team faced. While a young team can get more consistent and more resilient on how they battle back, being inconsistent against the top teams in the state is not a pathway for the faint of heart.
A slow start had the Lady Bulldogs fans feeling the stress as they faced as they opened the game trailing 1 to 12. But they quickly battled back, cutting into the Marquette lead late in the first quarter 13-15 before going into the 2nd quarter trailing by 3, 15-18.
The second quarter proved to be the difference in the game as the Lady Bulldogs could only muster 9 points and went into the half trailing 21-36.
Too Big of a Hill to Climb
Facing as much as a 17 point deficit early in the 3rd period, the Lady Bulldogs were able to rally and cut the Mustangs lead to 5. But another big 3 and a turnover put the Mustang lead back to double digits that would stay for the remainder of the game.
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs were locked in on the known weapons of the Mustangs. It was 5'10” So guard Madison Hutton that drew the assignment of slowing down the Lindenwood commit, Jr guard MaryAnn Kenyon. Hutton hounded her throughout the game, holding her scoreless in the 4th quarter.
But it was a Mustang player who knocked down three 3-point shots on her way to scoring 11 points above her season average that was the beneficiary of the Lady Bulldogs focused defense.
Coach Parker was happy with the overall defense in the evening. “We really did a good job defensively. Our turnovers we did have just were crucial leading to points.”
Entering the 4th quarter with a double digit lead, Marquette was able to focus on ball control and killing the clock. With 4 minutes left in the game, Marquette spread the floor, forcing the Bulldogs to chase. With their guard play, combined with their length, Marquette was able to work the ball such that they would find their big open or would get fouled. Marquette shot 11 free throws in the final quarter to close out the game.
Coach Parker was pleased with the resilience of the Lady Bulldogs. “We had to come back twice in the game and in the final run, we cut it to 5 but we just ran out of gas. It’s too hard to come back against good teams after digging yourself a hole.”
Wrap Up
Statistically, the numbers overall were pretty similar except for shooting percentage as the long Marquette defenders made it difficult on the Lady Bulldogs to score as they shot only 34% from 2. Marquette also recorded 9 blocks on the evening.
Unlike much of the season, the Lady Bulldogs were able to find their way to get 8 free throw attempts for the game and hitting 4. While Marquette took 15 attempts and connected on 9. Surprisingly 5'10” Fr guard Bella Campbell, who has made a living at the line, did not take a single free throw attempt.
The Lady Bulldogs had 3 players in double figures on the evening. They were led in scoring by Campbell with 12 points followed by Watkins and Hutton with 10 apiece. Those same three also recorded a team high 5 boards each. Watkins, in her last game as a Lady Bulldog, also handed out 4 assists on the evening.
Next Up
Be on the lookout for the next Inside the Huddle where we recap on the season and look ahead towards what is on the horizon.
Shout out to senior Mariah Watkins on her stellar career. We are excited to follow her on her journey. Speedy recovery to Rylee Dodson as she begins rehab to get back into game speed. The underclassmen will continue to grow and develop the game. A JV team that went 22-0 will find ways to work themselves into the mix, but remain patient as there is a ton of talent in the program.
STATS Marquette 63, Rolla 47
The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):
Rolla (17-11): Hutton 4-0-10, Watkins 4-0-10, Northup 1-0-2, Deremo 1-2-5, Campbell 6-0-12, Hollis 1-1-3, Anderson 2-1-5
Marquette (21-4): Lorber 2-0-4, Aldenderfer 2-1-5, Stanford 5-2-15, Owen 3-4-11, Shuert 6-0-18, Kenyon 6-2-15
The score by periods:
TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Rolla 13 8 15 11 47
Lafayette 18 18 12 15 63
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