No. 22/19 Marquette Hosts UIC on Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The No. 22/19 Marquette women's basketball team returns home for a three-game stretch and will host UIC on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m. Central time at the Al McGuire Center

Marquette (3-1) is back on the court after a nine-day break, most recently falling, 63-55 at No. 22/24 Miami on Nov. 15 in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT. Erika Davenport and Danielle King led the Golden Eagles with 15 and 10 points, respectively as MU cut a 16-point deficit to just one point but could not walk away with a victory.

All five of Marquette's starters average double digits as Allazia Blockton leads the way with 17.8 points per game, while Davenport is pulling down 7.0 boards per night.

The Golden Eagles will host crosstown-foe Milwaukee on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

LIVE STATS: hhttps://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
WATCH: https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=37&type=Live

OPPONENT
UIC: (1-2): The Flames lone victory of the season came in a 75-65 win over Valparaiso in the season opener. UIC is in its first season under new head coach Tasha Pointer, a former assistant with fellow BIG EAST school, St. John's. Brittany Byrd leads the Flames with 19.3 points per game, while Taylor Toney is pulling down 5.3 boards per contest. The senior duo was named to the Horizon League Preseason Second Team and both have recorded double digits in each of the three games for UIC this season. As a team UIC is combining for 59.7 points per game.
This is the first meeting since 1990 for the two teams with Marquette owning a 6-5 record all-time against the Flames.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING
Following the Miami loss…
"It was the first time this season that we faced two bigs with that amount of skill and that amount of heart. I loved our response in the second half and I'll take that response every day, the start, not so much. Coach Meier and Miami exposed our weaknesses in a lot of ways and for that we will be thankful towards the end of the year, I know that much."

On takeaways from trailing early at Miami and fighting back …
"To be honest I didn't recognize that team in the first half. We looked passive and fearful, like we were in quicksand. The halfcourt battle and lower paced battle was going to favor Miami and that's what happened tonight. We tried to pick up the pace and the pressing in the second half, but it was a little too late."
Carolyn Kieger
Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Allazia Blockton was one of 35 candidates named on the 2019 Wade Trophy Watch list, the WBCA announced earlier in the week.
Senior Danielle King reached the 1,000-career scoring mark with a three-point shot at the top of the key late in the fourth quarter of MU's win over Montana State. Marquette now has five, active 1,000-point scorers led by Allazia Blockton' s 1,845 career points. Natisha Hiedeman has 1,350, Erika Davenport is at 1,220, Amani Wilborn has 1,051 and King is at 1,025. Marquette is currently the only Division I program with five, 1,000-point scorers. No. 1 Notre Dame has four active 1,000-point scorers with a fifth under 200 points from the milestone.
Allazia Blockton is poised to become Marquette's all-time scoring leader in the non-conference portion of the season, breaking Krystal Ellis' record of 1,940 from 2005-09. She is currently second all-time and is also likely to also become the first player to surpass 2,000 career points at Marquette, male or female.
Marquette had two consecutive games in which six players reached double digits- against Montana State and Northern Iowa. Last season the Golden Eagles had six players reach double figure scoring just once- in a road overtime loss to last year's national champion Notre Dame.
The Golden Eagles have dished out more than 20 assists in three of four games this season. MU handed out 22 helpers in the season-opening win over South Dakota State, gave out 24 assists in the win over Montana State and 22 against UNI.
Head coach Carolyn Kieger's high scoring offense is shining through once again this year as MU is averaging 87.0 points per game.
Blockton was tabbed as unanimous BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and is the reigning league player of the year and scholar-athlete of the year. Davenport, Hiedeman and Wilborn were all picked to the BIG EAST Preseason Team.
The Golden Eagles spent the summer on a foreign tour in Australia from August 9-20. The team played four games overseas and experienced quite a few adventures, including snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and visiting the Sydney Opera House.
Head coach Carolyn Kieger enters her fifth season at the helm of the Golden Eagles. She has guided Marquette to its most wins in any two-year span in program history with 49, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns. Kieger's record at Marquette stands at 75-57.
Marquette earned an at-large bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round for the first time since 2011 and just the fifth time in program history, also marking the first time since 1999-2000 the Golden Eagles have made back-to-back trips to the Big Dance.