No. 20 Marquette Downs No. 24 DePaul, 96-63

MILWAUKEE—It was the first BIG EAST women's basketball top-25 matchup since 2016 and the 20^th-ranked Marquette women's basketball shined as they cruised to a 96-63 victory over No. 24 DePaul on Friday night at the Al McGuire Center, which was the largest margin of victory over the Blue Demons in program history.

Natisha Hiedeman had herself a fantastic night on the court as she led the Golden Eagles (12-3, 3-0) with a career-high-tying 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a career-high-tying six steals. Amani Wilborn connected for a season-best 20 points, while Danielle King added 19 and Selena Lott turned in her second straight game in double figures with 11 points. Freshman Chloe Marotta was on the court for four minutes and added an impressive seven points with one steal.

From start-to-finish it was Marquette's game as they held DePaul (9-5, 1-2) to their lowest total of the season as the Blue Demons committed 18 turnover and handed out just 12 assists, well below their season average of 20. Mart'E Grays led the team with 23 points, while Ashton Millender tallied 11.

The Golden Eagles played strong down low with 46 points in the paint, while the defense held the BIG EAST's top three-point shooting team to just five from beyond-the-arc and 34.3 percent (24-70) shooting overall.

Marquette connected on 37-for-74 from the floor with 12 three-point baskets, while dishing out 21 assists, the eighth time this season with 20-or more assists.

Hiedeman and Wilborn had already reached double digits at the half with 17 and 14 points, respectively as the Golden Eagles shot 46.3 percent from the floor taking 15 points from 10 DePaul turnovers to hold a 48-30 lead at the break.

Marquette will hit the road for the first time since Dec. 9 and face Villanova on Jan. 11 followed by Georgetown on Jan. 13. Both games will air live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

Natisha Hiedeman sat down with FS1 right after the game ended:

Natisha Hiedeman sat down with Sarah Kustok and Jeff Levering following her huge career night over DePaul. #muwbb pic.twitter.com/IqIo6iz6f7
— Marquette WBB (@MarquetteWBB) January 5, 2019