Cara Consuegra brings toughness as head coach of the Marquette women’s basketball team. She promises that the Golden Eagles will be gritty on the defensive end and it’s easy to see that edge in practices. MU might not have as much talent as it will in future seasons, but the Golden Eagles will pick off a few unexpected wins with their tenacity.

Reason to doubt

Consuegra and her staff have to quickly assemble a roster after getting hired in April. The Golden Eagles don’t have a clear-cut bucket-getter on the team and will likely have some offensive struggles this season.

Preseason conference prediction

MU was picked to finish 10th in the 11-team Big East in the preseason poll of conference coaches.

Our prediction

Even Consuegra doesn’t know what she has in her first team at MU before it starts playing games.

“But I also know the team we are going to be on Nov. 7 is not the team that’s going to be the team that we see in Big East play,” Consuegra said. “We are getting better every day. And we still have a lot of room to get better.”