GLADSTONE — Marquette made its decisive move in the third quarter to take a 40-35 victory at Gladstone in a high school girls basketball game played at the Braves’ gym on Tuesday evening.

Gladstone led 22-19 at halftime, but by the start of the fourth quarter, Marquette had taken a 29-24 lead in this Great Northern Conference matchup.

“We did a better job in the second half,” Marquette coach Ben Smith said of his team’s 10-2 scoring advantage in the third. “It’s nice to see our defensive intensity pick up, although it’s a little disappointing we didn’t have the same intensity from the beginning.

“They did a great job with their dribble weave stuff in the first half. Their effort can’t be faulted. Coach (Andy) Cretens does a great job getting his girls ready to play hard.

“I think our defense made the difference. We were able to make enough plays in the third quarter.”

Cretens also said the third quarter was key.

“It feels like we’re running into the same things game to game,” Cretens said. “We’re making a lot of silly mistakes. We can’t seem to make the little plays that end up being big things.

“We had a lot of mental lapses tonight. You’re not going to win many games when you score two points in a quarter.”

The Redettes, who fell to top-ranked Calumet 69-27 on Friday night, opened the third quarter with eight unanswered points.

Senior forward Maria Millado gave Marquette a 27-22 cushion on a putback with 2:44 left in the third. then opened the fourth frame with a six-foot set shot for a 31-24 advantage.

The Braves, however, climbed within 31-28 on a three-foot set shot by senior forward Veronica Hall with 6:29 to go. Then Marquette re-extended its lead to 35-28 on a lay-in by senior center Ella Jezewski at 5:24.

Gladstone, however, shaved its deficit to 37-35 on a 10-foot set shot by freshman Tia Schone with 2:57 left to play.

Senior guard Zoe Smith then put the Redettes up by five points on a 21-foot set shot.

Neither team scored in the final 2:40.

“You’ve got to make shots, and Zoe hit a big one for us,” Smith said. “You also have to be strong with the ball. Credit to Gladstone, they did a good job trapping.”

The Redettes (5-5 overall, 4-0 GNC) committed 25 turnovers. The Braves (3-7, 1-4) had 13.

“I thought we did a better job against their man-to-man tonight,” said Cretens, comparing this game to a 52-28 loss at Marquette on Dec. 20. “When they went to their half-court 1-3-1 trap, we started having a hard time. The girls know how to beat it, but they kind of let that get to them.

“In the fourth quarter, we didn’t get enough stops that we needed. We got some good looks at the basket, only the shots didn’t fall.

“They’re the frontrunner in the GNC, and tonight we showed we can play with them.”

Gladstone led 16-10 with 5:27 left in the second stanza following a 20-foot jumper by senior guard Claire van Ginhoven.

Marquette took a brief 17-16 lead on a pair of free throws by Millado at 1:52.

The teams traded baskets before a 3-point shot by junior forward Aliana Martinez gave the Braves a 22-19 lead two seconds before halftime.

Millado paced Marquette with 21 points, while junior center Meghan MacPhee added 10.

Senior guard Chloe Hanson was Gladstone’s leader with eight points.

Marquette, which also won the JV game 44-30, visits top-ranked Calumet Monday.