With a young team and a new coach at the helm this season, the Marquette women’s basketball team is exceeding expectations coming off two recent Big East wins against Villanova and Providence.
Although head basketball coach Cara Consuegra is new to the team, she’s not new to the game — or Marquette. An assistant coach for the Marquette women’s basketball team from 2004-11, Consuegra met her husband while she was here.
A student-athlete herself, Consuegra played for the University of Iowa women’s basketball team from 1997-2001, followed by a one-year stint in the WNBA with the former Utah Starzz. Prior to her first tour at Marquette, she worked for the Pennsylvania State University Lady Lions basketball team from 2001-04. Consuegra was most recently head coach of the Charlotte 49ers for the past 13 years.
With all that experience, Consuegra’s heart and drive is evident in the way she cares for and encourages her players.
“When I coach them, I am not asking them to do anything that I have not done or been asked to do myself,” Consuegra says. “Getting to the highest level in any sport is extremely difficult. It requires extreme sacrifices and a focus that many aren’t willing to give. I know what it requires, and I can push our players to get there. They might not all become professionals, but the goal is to push them to be the best versions of themselves. That’s what we are doing every day.”
In a one-on-one interview, Consuegra gives a behind-the-scenes look at how lessons from her past are helping propel her players into the future.
Tell me about your decision to come back to Marquette University. Clearly there’s a lot of history between you and Marquette.
Marquette has always felt like home to me. It starts with our family ties — I met my husband here, but he is also an alumnus. His family is here in Milwaukee. We have many friends still here in town. Being back in this community means a lot to us because we are with our family. My seven years here as an assistant coach were some of the best years of my life. Marquette helped to mold me into the coach and leader that I am today, and this program has a special place in my heart. The opportunity to come back here and be the head coach was a dream come true for us.
Looking at the places in which you’ve spent time coaching, it’s evident that you don’t jump around from job to job. You’ve said that you’re fiercely loyal — where do you think that fierce loyalty comes from?
I believe the loyalty in me came from how and where I was raised. I grew up in the small town of Mt. Airy, Maryland. I come from a very tight knit family — my parents and brother always supported my dream to become a college basketball player. My parents specifically made a lot of sacrifices to help me achieve my dream. I am forever grateful for them and that example taught me what loyalty looks like.
You speak openly about your five specific core values of the H.E.A.R.T: Heart, Effort, Accountability, Respect and Toughness. Can you dive deeper into where those values came from and why they are so important to your coaching strategy.
When I was first hired as a head coach 14 years ago, it was important to me to create a women’s basketball program with a foundation built on values. I want to run a transformational program that challenges our student-athletes to grow as people and leaders, not just basketball players. That is why I created “Play with H.E.A.R.T.” These are our five core values that guide our team and program.
What adjectives would you use to describe your team now and explain?
The words I would use to describe my team right now are “bought in” and “hungry.” Our women believe in our process to build a team and program that reflects Marquette values — a team that plays with H.E.A.R.T, that plays for and with each other, and a team that reflects the blue-collar hard work that is in the fabric of our Milwaukee community. Our team is also hungry to grow and keep improving.
As a mentor to so many young female athletes, who was a mentor to you as a young player, what did they teach you and how do you pass that knowledge along to your players now?
One of my biggest basketball mentors was my high school basketball coach, Brian Matthews. My junior and senior year in high school, we won 53 straight games and back-to-back state championships. Coach Matthews was relentless in his pursuit toward excellence, and he instilled that in us players every day.
Do you have a mentor today who you still look up to or ask for guidance from?
A mentor who I still look to today is Lisa Bluder, the recently retired Iowa women’s basketball coach. I was fortunate enough to play with her my senior year at Iowa, and I learned so much from her. To this day, she will answer my call and give me guidance on any topic that I need.
Over the past couple years, the popularity of women’s sports has soared, especially basketball, catapulting extremely talented players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese into the spotlight. What are your thoughts on the trajectory of the sport from the 10,000-foot view?
Women’s basketball has always been a great game with very talented athletes, but it took those special players you mentioned to get more people to see it. Now that so many eyes are on our game, we have a very special opportunity to continue to grow our game. For our program, we want to be very hands on with the community. We want people to come to our games because they are curious about women’s basketball, and we want them to stay because they love Marquette women’s basketball. The Al McGuire Center has an incredible environment, and every seat is a great seat. Fans can get up close and personal.
You have mentioned how you have a very young team at this point. Although experience is great, when you have so many fresh faces it can be an opportunity to mold the players into what you want. What are your goals for the next few years with this team? In two to three years, where would you like to see your team performance-wise?
Ultimately, we want our women’s basketball program to be a program that is successful on and off the court. In the business of sports, I know being successful is measured by wins and we want to win a lot. But we are equally concerned with the character and quality of women who are graduating from our program. We want to build young women who are ready to be leaders in the world and who can go out and “Be The Difference.”
