With four players providing double-digit scoring efforts, Marquette women’s basketball cruised past Georgetown 84-77 to open BIG EAST play with back-to-back wins.
“That is a big win for us. I mean Georgetown is obviously a great team, they were picked high in the league, they are playing great, they have a RPI of seven, so that was a huge team win,” Marquette head coach Carolyn Kieger told gomarquette.com. “Our tempo in the first half was unbelievable. I really credit our team to come out there and start the game like we did. It was definitely Marquette basketball, pushing tempo. We got to learn how to play two halves at that pace, but I was really pleased with the team tonight.”
Natisha Hiedeman picked up two fouls early in the first quarter which forced her to the bench, but upon returning midway through the quarter she drained all four of her 3-point attempts. Her hot hand continued throughout the game as she finished the game with 20 points, second to Allazia Blockton’s 21.
“(Hiedeman) had a stretch in the first half where she was playing unbelievable and unstoppable. It is great, our team is clicking when she has that passion and fire in her eye,” Kieger said. “When T (Hiedeman) is confident, the rest of the team is confident.”
With help from Hiedeman and a strong fast break, the Golden Eagles closed out the first quarter on a 13-0 run to give themselves a 28-21 lead.
Marquette stayed offensively dominant in the second quarter, hitting 57.1 percent of their shots in the first half and headed to the locker room up 46-37.
The first half of play was eerily similar to a year ago when the Golden Eagles were up 17 points at half, but they changed the second half script. Last year Marquette only hit 22.2 percent of their shots in the second frame, but this go around, the Golden Eagles were able to stay consistent.
Georgetown applied pressure to the Golden Eagles by shrinking the Marquette lead to just four points late in the third quarter. Marquette responded and extended their lead back to eight and as time was winding down in the third quarter, McKayla Yentz nailed a 3-pointer to give Marquette a 66-55 lead, simultaneously dashing any hopes of a Hoya comeback.
The Hoyas kept applying pressure throughout the fourth quarter, but they committed four turnovers, which allowed Marquette to keep control of the game.
The Golden Eagles head back to Milwaukee where they will host Creighton Monday at 7:30 p.m.
