No. 19/19 Marquette Hosts SDSU in 2018-19 Opener

11/5/2018 2:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Watch Live Live Stats MU-SDSU Game Notes

The Golden Eagles tip-off at 11:30 a.m. CT

By: Communications

MILWAUKEE – The No. 19/19 Marquette women's basketball opens the 44^th season of competition on Tuesday, Nov. 6 when the Golden Eagles host South Dakota State at 11:30 a.m. Central time.

Plenty of familiar faces will line the court as expectations are high for Marquette, returning all five starters from last season's squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Recently picked as co-favorites to win the BIG EAST Conference, along with DePaul, the Golden Eagles are ranked No. 19 in the AP Top-25 preseason poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll.

BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year Allazia Blockton leads her fellow seniors Erika Davenport, Natisha Hiedeman, Danielle King and Amani Wilborn in the starting lineup, with classmate Sandra Dahling leading the team vocally as the captain.

Marquette also returns juniors Altia Anderson and Isabelle Spingola and sophomores Selena Lott and Lauren Van Kleunen. Junior Amanda Maqueia and freshman Chloe Marotta are the lone newcomers for the season.

The Golden Eagles will open the Preseason WNIT on Friday, Nov. 9 hosting Montana State at 7 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

LIVE STATS: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
WATCH: https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=34&type=Live

PROMOS

Spend your lunch break at the Al! Free pizza is available for all Marquette students, faculty and staff as well as $1 concession specials and $2 hot dogs.
All MU faculty and staff get free admission

OPPONENT

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: South Dakota State earned its 12^th consecutive trip to the postseason in 2016-17, falling to BIG EAST opponent Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Jackrabbits went 26-7, marking their 21^st 20-win season and were picked to win the Summit League for the seventh consecutive season, while Macy Miller was tabbed as Preseason Player of the Year. Three additional Jackrabbits, Madison Guebert, Tagyn Larson and Myah Selland were picked to the preseason squad. Miller averaged a league-leading 18.3 points per game and ranked in the top 10 in six of the eight statistical categories last year, and also led South Dakota State in rebounds (5.8) and assists (3.2) per game.

Marquette is 4-0 all-time against the Jackrabbits with the most recent meeting a 77-74 overtime victory at Frost Arena on Nov. 28, 2012.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING:
On opening the season…
"We are really excited for this year, obviously we have very high expectations and none higher than the ones we hold for ourselves, but what we talk about everyday is execution beats expectations. We are trying to take this season literally 200 feet at a time and not worrying about rankings or postseason or what may come."

On the senior class…
"We have an incredible senior class and it is their last run, so we are talking daily about 'Leaving Their Marq' and having a great time with them in their last go-round. This class has really set the tone and the standard for our program."
-Carolyn Kieger
Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Marquette has four, 1,000-point scorers led by Allazia Blockton' s 1,774 career points. Natisha Hiedeman has 1,296, Erika Davenport is at 1,173 and Amani Wilborn has 1,006. Danielle King is just 17 points away from reaching the 1,000-point scoring mark (983) and will likely do so early in the season. When this occurs Marquette will be the only Division I program with five, 1,000-point scorers. Preseason No. 1 Notre Dame also have four active 1,000-point scorers with a fifth just 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. Blockton is likely to also become the first player to surpass 2,000 career points at Marquette, male or female.
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 72-55.
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.