Marquette University
Milwaukee
Marquette Takes Down Milwaukee, 83-68
12/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MILWAUKEE--A slower first half paved way to an explosive second, as the Marquette women's basketball team toppled crosstown foe Milwaukee, 83-68 on Sunday evening at the Klotsche Center.
Junior Allazia Blockton led four Marquette (6-4) players in double digits with a season-best 29 points, while classmate Natisha Hiedeman connected for 15 points and is now just seven points away from reaching 1,000 career points. Erika Davenport and Amani Wilborn each tallied 14 points.
The Golden Eagles played tough defense, forcing Milwaukee (8-3) into 31 turnovers and held leading scorer Steph Kostowicz to just 10 points. MU also snapped an eight-game win-streak by the Panthers and extended the all-time series record to 20-3.
"The biggest thing that I am most excited about was our defensive energy," head coach Carolyn Kieger said. "We came in with a goal to force 30 turnovers and we forced 31 tonight, so we are really happy about that. We knew going into the game that we wanted to pressure and do full-court defense and our team really bought into that in the second half. I was really excited about our ball screen defense as well. We were trapping that and I think our team did a phenomenal job being disciplined in the traps and rotating out, so that was the number one thing we wanted to accomplish tonight and I think we did a great job of that."
Marquette scored 42 points in the paint and led by as many as 17 points in the third frame, while finishing the day shooting 36-for-75 (46%) from the field, including six three-point shots.
"Allazia Blockton had a fantastic game with 29 points, but a lot of it was that she was making the right read and making smart attacks and paying attention to the game plan, so it really was a great night for her," Kieger said. "I give a lot of credit to her teammates for giving her the ball. Amani Wilborn had great adjustments in the second half and stepped up to knock down some open shots. A player that might not show up on the stats sheet was Selena Lott. She had 10 deflections for us tonight, which is phenomenal for a freshman to go in and get her hands on that many balls."
The first half was tightly contested with the score tied four times as MU grabbed its largest lead of the first half, 39-29, after Hiedeman connected on a jumper with 1:59 left in the second quarter. The Golden Eagles shot 50-percent (18-36) in the first half and were paced by 12 points each from Hiedeman and Blockton.
"It is great to come into an opponent's home court and get the `W," Kieger stated. "We have a lot to get ready for and a lot to fix before Wednesday, but we are really excited for the opportunity to go into the No. 2 ranked team's house and see what we can do."
Marquette will travel to No. 2 Notre Dame on Wednesday, Dec. 20 to close out the non-conference slate. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT from South Bend.
