Last season, the Marquette women's basketball team made a one-week appearance in The Associated Press top 25 after a 6-1 start.

Then the Golden Eagles lost a road game against Big East foe Seton Hall and didn't appear in the rankings for the rest of the season.

That brief blip on the national radar has helped shape the mentality of the returning players on this year's team. MU (12-0, 1-0 Big East) is off to the best start in program history, jumping into the AP rankings on Nov. 27 and climbing to No. 18 in the latest poll.

"We kind of took it for granted, the rankings," MU senior forward Liza Karlen said. "And this year, we could be ranked, we could be unranked, we’re still going to go into every game with a chip on our shoulder and play the same way with the same intensity."

After a brief holiday break, the Golden Eagles face their biggest challenge yet against No. 15 Connecticut (9-3, 1-0) on Sunday at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

"I prefer to play UConn at their place first," Karlen said. "It’s nice to go in with just a huge chip on our shoulder.  Even with the ranking.

"Regardless of what UConn is ranked, we know how hard it is to go in their building, we know how tough of a team they are.”

Liza Karlen has received national attention

Karlen has earned her own national attention by averaging 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She was named national player of the week by the AP on Dec. 19 after victories over Creighton and Appalachian State.

"She’s like the first one to be there to celebrate with us," MU sophomore guard Kenzie Hare said. "She’s the first one to congratulate us.

"But she is also is there to have those conversations that need to be had. She’s just such a great teammate, and giving so many touches during practice and during the game.

"And then she’s just a phenomenal player. I mean, you can throw it up in there and she’ll go get it. She’ll hit her jumper, get a layup. She can do it all. She’s just a blast to play with."

Karlen has improved steadily since playing 11.2 minutes per game as a freshman in the 2020-21 season. She provides steady leadership along with guards Jordan King and Rose Nkumu.

"I think confidence is the easiest answer," Karlen said. "Because I am very familiar with our system. I’m very familiar with the way Coach (Megan Duffy) talks to me and with the way Coach J (Justine Raterman) talks to me. I’ve been playing with Jordan for four years. I’ve been playing with Rosie for four years."

Megan Duffy and Kenzie Hare praise team chemistry

The Golden Eagles play really well together, racking up 252 assists on their 369 made field goals this season.

Hare, one of the top three-point shooters in the nation at 54.7% on her 75 attempts, thinks MU's style of play is directly related to the team's closeness.

"It’s so much fun," Hare said. "Especially because these girls are my best friends. So being able to go out every single day together and work hard, be in the trenches together, go through those highs and lows together, it’s just amazing.

"We go out to eat with each other. And we talk basketball. We talk about game, and we talk real about it. It’s not always just the fun stuff. Being able to have those conversations with each other are very important because we have those relationships and we’re able to have those conversations."

Duffy has taken note of her team's chemistry.

"I think it’s so important with women’s teams, of just those relationships," Duffy said. "Whether it’s staff to player, whether it’s player to player. I think the big thing is that we’ve talked about is they’re very close off the court, they enjoy each other’s company, but you have to have a different edge when you get on the court with the game."

Challenges await Golden Eagles, starting with UConn

Duffy, in her fifth season at MU and seventh overall as a head coach, knows that national rankings are fickle and the Golden Eagles likely won't remain undefeated.

"I just think we’re in such this grind and this process of every day keeping them up," Duffy said. "Keeping them hungry to improve.

"I think the great part of this nonconference stretch, the winning is always good, but we’ve seen so many different styles. Even against Bucknell, it was a little bit of a slower pace. A lot of cuts and movement and kind of wanted to make it a little ugly. Then you have an App State the game before that’s a little more upbeat and a track meet. I just think we’ve learned a lot from the first 12 games of the season."

Like every coach, Duffy sees areas for improvement. The competition ramps up quickly, starting with Connecticut on Sunday.

"I want our defense to be better," she said. "I want our rebounding and toughness, the staples of who we are, to get to a different level. Then I think the more we can get to our bench and get them contributing, the better it will be for Jordan, Liza and Rose and Mackenzie."

Figuring out how to deal with success is typically a good problem for a coach.

"I think we haven’t been afraid to talk about it," Duffy said. "Talk about the rankings. Talk about what it means.

"Most importantly, just the great moments for the program on the national scene. But then there’s also a switch and we turn it off, and we say we’re humble and we have that chip on our shoulder. That can’t change."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Undefeated Marquette women's basketball ready to play UConn on Sunday