We continue onwards in our preview of the 2026-27 Marquette women's basketball season!
This is continuing our rundown of who exactly is on this roster and who exactly needs to be relied on as head coach Cara Consuegra seeks her first NCAA tournament appearance with the Golden Eagles and her first as a head coach since 2022. We've already talked about Halle Vice as a singular known quantity on this year's roster, we've talked about the other returning players , and we've talked about the transfers who are arriving in Milwaukee this year.
That leaves just one subset of players on the roster to talk about: The First Year Players! No, I did not say "freshmen." I said "first year players," because there are three women who are going to be on a college roster for the first time ever this season. One is a freshman who committed to play for Consuegra in September 2024, before she actually coached a game for MU, one is a freshman who hopped on the Golden Eagles' train back in April of this year, and another is a French second division player who did not get announced as signed until after the school year started.
Quite a difference here! We'll talk about it, and we'll go in that order. Let's get going…..
Sign up for a user account and get:
Improved notifications system!
Fewer ads
Create community posts
Comment on articles, community posts
Rec comments, community posts
Download the SB Nation app on iOS or Android .
It remains slightly wild to me that Se'Crette Carter committed to Marquette in August 2024. That's right about when the school year started for Consuegra's first season in Milwaukee. Her commitment came before Consuegra coached a single game for the Golden Eagles, and that's interesting because Carter didn't sign with Marquette until November 2025. If you're comfortable with a coach and you want to make your verbal commitment, knock yourself out… but man, it's weird to pull the trigger like that before a new coach at a new place coaches one game when you still can't sign with that team for 14 months.
ANYWAY, here's what Consuegra said about her when Carter signed about a year ago:
"Se'Crette embodies the core values that our program stands for—H.E.A.R.T. A we over me type of player, she is selfless and does the little things on the court, always looking to make the right play for her team," Consuegra said. "Offensively, she's a shooter with a green light from deep who will thrive in our uptempo style and help us with offensive spacing."
Carter averaged 17 points a game as a junior as her Belleville High School team went 28-1 and won a state title in 2025. They followed that up with a 25-2 run during Carter's senior season, where the squad fell in the Michigan Division 1 quarterfinals. I can't track down any stats for Carter's senior season, but I presume she was a big part of what Belleville was doing. Sure would be neat if Marquette did more for Carter's bio than whatever they knew about her when she signed a year ago, but oh well.
Here's a question for you: Is Se'Crette Carter a point guard? I can't track down more stats for her than what I've already shared here, so I can't make an educated guess from that. What I do know is that MU maaaaaybe doesn't have an obvious point guard on the roster from the returning players or the transfers. That seems like a not ideal situation to be in, so you'd think that Cara Consuegra knew about that and had some sort of plan regarding her roster construction. Is it possible that there was a certain amount of "well, we'll just hand the keys to Se'Crette and find out what happens" involved here?
If nothing else, there's very little in terms of roles defined for anyone at this point of the calendar, especially for guard, perhaps mostly because Marquette hasn't played an exhibition contest in public. It's definitely possible that Carter could be a key component of whatever Marquette's going to be doing this season if for no other reason than Carter has been locked in on playing for Consuegra for a while now. Whether that translates to wins in a rapid fashion remains to be seen.
Kinley Asp has only been officially preparing to attend Marquette this fall since April . She was originally committed and signed to head to Boston College, but after a coaching change with those Eagles, Asp reopened her recruitment and ultimately went with the Golden Eagles a little bit closer to her home in Colorado… just not exactly in her back yard, either.
Asp had one of the most productive Colorado high school careers ever, adding #4 all-time in state tournament points to #11 all-time in assists, #17 all-time in steals, and #20 all time in free throws made. She's just the second player in Colorado history to ever put up 1,700 points, 600 rebounds, 500 assists, and 400 steals in a career. Asp was great for her high school out of the gate as well, putting up back-to-back 29 point performances in the state championship game as her Colorado Springs Christian School team won both of those games.
Here's what Cara Consuegra said about Asp when she signed :
"Kinley brings exactly what we value in our program and possesses what it takes to win," Consuegra said. "She has a natural feel for pushing the pace in transition, consistently makes great reads, and can stretch the defense with her quick release and deep 3-point range. Kinley is dangerous getting downhill to attack the rim, but she's just as effective creating opportunities for her teammates. Defensively, her versatility stands out. She can guard the opponent's best player, defend every position on the floor and adapt seamlessly to any role the game calls for."
And here's what was in the Boston College press release for Asp back last November from then-head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee:
"Kinley is a dynamic addition to our program. She's a high-IQ, tall, skilled point guard with a team-first mentality who makes everyone around her better. We're thrilled to welcome Kinley to our BC Women's Basketball family. Kinley has great court vision with the ability to control tempo, create for her teammates, and score when needed. She is a true floor general. Her poise, work ethic, and competitiveness make her an ideal fit for the Heights."
I mentioned it a moment ago with Se'Crette Carter, so I'll bring it up here again because Bernabei-McNamee did: Marquette needs a point guard. If Kinley Asp is a legitimate point guard, then she can have all the minutes she wants. If Consuegra and her staff approached the transfer portal with the idea of bringing in Asp and handing her the ball for the next four years — the NCAA didn't approve the five years/five seasons model until after Asp signed, after all — then that certainly makes sense for the lack of a point guard as a transfer.
If Asp can't play at a Division 1 level right away because jumping that gap is too big for her right now, then I don't know if it's going to be an easy time finding minutes. Yes, Marquette absolutely needs literally anyone to step up and absorb minutes with Halle Vice, Jordan Meulemans, and MacKenzie Givens as the only really trustworthy rotation players right now, maybe Kayl Petersen, too. But there's a lot of people competing for the available minutes, and if Kam Herring makes it clear that she's more on top of what the scheme is asking of her than Kinley Asp is, then obviously the minutes have to go to Herring. Or Yu Han Lin. Or whoever, you get the point here.
The announcement of the signing of Amina Traore was on August 31, 2026 . That was the first day of classes for the 2026-27 school year. Needless to say, this was a very late addition to the program by Cara Consuegra and her staff. Here's what was in the press release from the MU head coach:
"Amina brings a unique combination of physicality, versatility and experience that will make an immediate impact on our program," Consuegra said. "She has competed at a high level in France against a variety of styles and competition, and that experience shows in her maturity, adaptability and understanding of the game. She has the ability to anchor the paint defensively, switch onto perimeter players and stretch the floor offensively, which gives us tremendous flexibility on both ends of the court. Just as importantly, Amina is a team-first player who values winning, embraces her role and elevates those around her. Her competitive spirit, work ethic and commitment to her teammates align perfectly with the culture we're building at Marquette, and we're excited to see her continue to grow in our program."
Okay, so here's the thing.
Traore played in 21 games in the French second division league last season, averaging 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in nine minutes a game for Monaco BA. She averaged 3.9 rebounds per game for France in the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup, and she averaged 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship. Just so we're all clear here: That means Traore turned 18 in 2022 and 19 in 2023.
It's the end of 2026. She's 22. It's been three years since that FIBA U19 World Cup, and she was averaging nine minutes a game in the French second division… for a team that went 16-10 and finished fourth.
I'm not saying that Amina Traore can not help Marquette this season. She's the only center listed on the roster right now, and she and Noelle Anthon are the only two women listed at 6'2". I'm saying that she's never pulled the trigger on being a Division 1 prospect before this even while contributing to the French junior national teams. I don't know if there was any interest in her or not, I'm just saying that she's here now and it's not like she was tearing it up in LF2 last year.
But here's what Consuegra said about Traore at Big East Media Day :
"She's been very impressive. She got to our campus two days before school started, so she missed the entire summer, and we spent our summer really implementing the basics of everything that we do," Consuegra said. "And so she basically had about three weeks to catch up before practice started, and she just catches on very quickly. And I think that's obviously credit to her, her upbringing. Her dad was a coach. She's been around the game a long time. … She knows the game. She understands the intricacies that maybe a younger player won't know."
"She's picking it up quickly" is not the same thing as "She's our starting center," nor is it even "We expect Traore to hold down a rotation spot." In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Cara Consuegra's judgment calls on bigs has been suspect from the moment she started and played Jada Bediako for 25 minutes in a 57-50 opening night loss to UCF and then pulled her out of the starting lineup two games later and never played her for more than 20 minutes in any other game across the next two seasons.
As you can tell, I am not crazy high on what Amina Traore can do for the Golden Eagles this season. If I am wrong, then that is my burden to bear….. but if I'm right, then the burden shifts to Consuegra especially since there are three open roster spots for the Golden Eagles right now.
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook: AnonymousEagle
Instagram: AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky: AnonymousEagle
