No. 17/17 Marquette Opens 2019 BIG EAST Tournament as Top Seed

Sunday, March 10

Chicago, Ill.

12 p.m. CT

Marquette University

St. John's University

Photo by: Isaiah Gencuski

No. 17/17 Marquette Opens 2019 BIG EAST Tournament as Top Seed

3/8/2019 2:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

BIG EAST Championship Central Marquette Game Notes WATCH: Kieger, Hiedeman Availability

Golden Eagles will play on Sunday, March 10 at 12 p.m. CT on FS2

By: Communications

CHICAGO - The No. 17/17 Marquette women's basketball team is set for the 2019 BIG EAST Conference Tournament presented by Jeep as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season. The Golden Eagles won their first outright BIG EAST Championship in program history this season and the first outright title for MU since winning Conference-USA in 2000. Marquette begins postseason play against the winner of the No. 8 Seton Hall and No. 9 St. John's matchup at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, March 10 at 12 p.m. CT.

The game will air live on FS2 with John Fanta and Kim Adams calling the action, while Meghan Caffrey will report from the sideline.

The Golden Eagles (24-6, 15-3) have also enjoyed a plethora of individual accolades as the conference season ended this week. Natisha Hiedeman was chosen as the unanimous BIG EAST Player of the Year and selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team. It is the second straight season that MU has had the league's player of the year after Allazia Blockton won the honor in 2017-18. Blockton picked up her second consecutive BIG EAST Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and was tabbed as the league's sixth-woman after coming off the bench for 13 BIG EAST contests once she returned from an earlier injury.

Erika Davenport earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors for the third straight year. Davenport suffered a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 22 and finished the season averaging a double-double with 12.5 points and 11.4 boards in BIG EAST play. She took down double digit rebounds in nine conference games this season, including a career-best 23 boards against Georgetown.

For the second year in-a-row, Amani Wilborn was named to the All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention team. She is the BIG EAST leader among active players with 455 total career assists and averaged 13.0 points per game in conference action, while shooting at a 47.1 percent clip. Wilborn recorded 20+ points in four league games this year and notched double figures in 12 of the 18 BIG EAST games.

MU is 12-12 all-time in the league tourney and earns a first-round bye for the third consecutive season and fifth all-time. The Golden Eagles have reached the tournament final for two straight seasons, including winning the 2017 crown. Should MU advance to the semifinals it will face No. 4 Georgetown or No. 5 Villanova on Monday, March 11 at 3 p.m. CT on FS1.

OPPONENTS:

SETON HALL (15-14, 7-11): The Pirates will meet St. John's for the second consecutive game on Saturday to determine which team will face Marquette and Seton Hall swept the Red Storm in regular season action. BIG EAST scoring leader Shadeen Samuels averaged 20.2 points per game in league play and was named as the Most Improved Player and earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST first team. The Pirates ranked third all year among league team in scoring, tallying 75.3 points per game.

ST. JOHN'S (14-15, 7-11): The Red Storm are playing in the BIG EAST Tournament first round for the first time since conference realignment and own a 28-30 all-time record in the tournament. Tiana England was named to the All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention team, while Kadaja Bailey was picked on the BIG EAST All-Freshman team. England led the league with 5.7 assists per game, ranking in the top-25 of all NCAA players and is one of four St. John's players averaging double digits. Qadashah Hoppie leads the team with 11.8 points each contest.

THE SERIES

SETON HALL: Marquette leads the all-time series with the Pirates, 15-7, including sweeping the season series. In the last outing the Golden Eagles earned a 109-63 win in South Orange.

ST. JOHN'S: Marquette and St. John's split the season series with each team winning on its home court. Overall, this would be the 23rd all-time meeting with the Golden Eagles owning a narrow 12-10 advantage.