The current landscape of college basketball, men's or women's, revolves around the transfer portal. It may not be how the heart of every team's roster is created, but the positives and consequences of the portal's growing impact shapes some amount of just about everyone at the Divison I level.

Just about everyone. But one team on the women's side managed to do what feels like the impossible in 2025.

Marquette didn't lose anyone to the portal. It didn't even lose anyone to graduation. The same 12 players that were on the 2024-25 team are all back on the 2025-26 roster, with the only changes being additions: Two freshmen and a transfer — Butler guard Jordan Meulemans.

With no context, this is already a remarkable feat and should be about the best display of a program's strength that a fan could hope for outside of actual on-court success. But the details of what this Marquette team was last season makes it all the more fascinating.

The Golden Eagles finished last year 20-11, fourth in the Big East at 12-6 and made it to the second round of the WBIT before falling to James Madison 80-76.

Was that a particularly remarkable season for Marquette? It was, in fact, the worst season the Golden Eagles have had since 2015-16, and was also only the second time since that season — pandemic cancellations not included — that Marquette missed out on the NCAA Tournament altogether.

Despite a record that doesn't stand out among Marquette's recent seasons, there was plenty to be excited about with the Golden Eagles last year, and that's thanks to Cara Consuegra.

All that recent Marquette success came from its two prior coaches: Carolyn Kieger (2014-19) and Megan Duffy (2019-24). Both left for different jobs in power conferences, with Duffy leaving for the Virginia Tech vacancy immediately after the 2023-24 season.

Consuegra, a former Marquette assistant from 2004-11, spent the last 13 seasons at Charlotte, getting the 49ers to their third ever NCAA Tournament in 2022. She earned Big East Co-Coach of the Year, shared with UConn's Geno Auriemma, for her first-year efforts.

So, a head coach in her first season with a program managed to keep the entirety of said program's roster on board for year two. What's that roster look like?

Marquette's 24-25 group was already a bit of a unique one before running it all back for another year, as the roster did not include a single freshman. Consuegra was already starting at a deficit with three decommits for its 2024 class along with two transfers out: Mackenzie Hare and Liza Karlen, the Golden Eagles' two leading scorers from the season prior at a combined 31.7 PPG.

All of this led to a season with lessened expectations — Marquette was picked to finish 10th in the Big East in the preseason coaching poll — which makes that 20-11 record and a postseason tournament berth of any type all the more impressive.

Two then-sophomores — Skylar Forbes and Halle Vice — as well as senior Lee Volker, all led the way as the Golden Eagles' three scorers averaging double figures. Volker's rise was significant, especially considering she also entered the transfer portal the prior offseason before deciding to return with Consuegra:

Lee Volker, 23-24 to 24-25 stats

  • MPG: 14.9 | 31.9
  • PPG: 3.5 | 12.6
  • RPG: 2.6 | 4.6
  • APG: 1.1 | 2.8
  • FG/3PT%: 43.9/15.8 | 47.1/42.7

The Golden Eagles were a strong, well-rounded defensive team that blocked a lot of shots (11.8% rate, 21st in NCAA) and moved the ball around (63.6% assist rate, 34th). The previously mentioned top three players, along with then-junior Olivia Porter, each averaged more than 30 minutes per contest and started every game they played in. The team used six players on a consistent basis, while the other half of the roster played sparingly throughout the season.

After an 0-2 start to the campaign, Marquette won 8 of their next 9 prior to a big home defeat to UConn. But from there, the Golden Eagles were excellent on their home floor, winning 7 of their final 8 conference games as the hosts. The one WBIT victory against Drake was also significant: Marquette took down the Bulldogs on the road after trailing by double digits at halftime.

All of this is to say, this feels like a connected unit with a lot of resilience. Starting at the potential at a true "down" year for the first time in about a decade, and with no freshman talent entering the picture, Consuegra kept Marquette near its typical standard anyway, and has now been rewarded with universal buy-in from her players. It's exactly what Marquette director of athletics Bill Scholl hoped would come from this hire:

"When we started this process, it was our goal to find the best possible head coach to lead our student-athletes into the future ... Cara has an acute appreciation for the values that make both the university and the women’s basketball program so special ... At her core, she is about the holistic development, on and off the court, of the young women she will mentor and that mirrors the university’s approach.”

Marquette is going to be a fascinating case study of just how much retention matters in the current college landscape. This is a team that faces the defending national champions in conference play and some intriguing matchups early on against teams like Minnesota and Iowa State, so the tests will be coming.

An entire roster returning for another season is something that should be celebrated at any level in any collegiate sport at this point, but for it to come from a team facing a down year, after year one of a new head coach to the program and without a single incoming freshman last season, feels all the more impressive.

"Experience" will always be a buzzword discussed for all competing teams, but Marquette's experience playing with one another could give the Golden Eagles a true advantage early on in the year, and may help them get right back into the NCAA Tournament after a season off.