No. 19/19 Marquette Hosts Montana State in Preseason WNIT on Friday

MILWAUKEE – The No. 19/19 Marquette women's basketball opens play in the 2018 Preseason WNIT Tournament on Friday, hosting Montana State at 7 p.m. CT at the Al McGuire Center.

This is the second time that the Golden Eagles will participate in the Preseason WNIT after playing in the opening year, 1994 taking on Southwest Missouri State. Marquette is one of 16 teams in this year's field and if Marquette advances the squad will host the winner of Delaware/Northern Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. CT. Each team in the tournament is guaranteed to play three games.

The Golden Eagles rolled over South Dakota State in the season opener, 91-52 on Tuesday, led by Natisha Hiedeman and Allazia Blockton with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Marquette shot a stellar 52.3 percent from the field against the Jackrabbits.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

LIVE STATS: https://gomarquette.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
WATCH (Produced by the Marquette Wire): https://gomarquette.com/watch/?Live=35&type=Live

PROMOS

It's a Jimmy John's giveaway for all students in attendance
Both games of the weekend enjoy complimentary admission for veterans and active military members. Contact tickets office for tickets 414.288.4668 or claim at door on gameday

OPPONENT

MONTANA STATE: Montana State won its season opener, 64-48 over NAIA school, Carroll College. The Bobcats have a familiar face on their roster in Claire Lundberg, a transfer from fellow BIG EAST school, Seton Hall. Lundberg led Montana State with a game-high 25 points in the opener, while Madeline Smith added 10. The Bobcats were picked to tie Montana in fifth place in the 2018-19 Preseason Big Sky Coaches' Poll.

The all-time series is tied 1-1 with Marquette winning the most recent matchup, 76-48 on Nov. 26, 2005.

WHAT THE TEAM IS SAYING
On coming out after the exhibition…
"Our focus in practice was great. We had three great practices and we were able to come out today and get the win."
Allazia Blockton
Senior Guard

"I'm extremely proud of the team's response. We had a really hard conversation after the loss about when adversity hits and what kind of team we want to be. We responded and I'm very proud of that effort."
Carolyn Kieger
Head Coach

STORYLINES:

Marquette has four, 1,000-point scorers led by Allazia Blockton' s 1,793 career points. Natisha Hiedeman has 1,317, Erika Davenport is at 1,184 and Amani Wilborn has 1,016. Danielle King is just nine points away from reaching the 1,000-point scoring mark (991) 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 73-56.
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.