Marquette women advance past Villanova; 56-53

CHICAGO (AP) — Katherine Plouffe scored 14 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and made a key block with 7 seconds left as fifth-seeded Marquette beat No. 4 seed Villanova 56-53 in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference tournament on Sunday.

Marquette avenged two regular season losses to Villanova — the second coming last Tuesday, 81-64. The Golden Eagles will play top-seeded DePaul on Monday in the semifinals.

Plouffe scored 13 of her 14 points in the second half for Marquette (21-9). She made 3 of 4 free throws, had two offensive rebounds and a defensive board in the final 1:06.

Two Plouffe free throws with 18 seconds left gave Marquette a 54-53 lead. Villanova's Caroline Coyer drove the lane but her go-ahead shot was blocked by Plouffe. Ashley Santos then made two free throws to seal it.

Devon Kane led Villanova (22-8) with 19 points and Coyer added 10.