After a record-setting performance from senior Allazia Blockton, No. 18 Marquette women’s basketball defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 74-57 at the Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Blockton became the program’s all-time scoring leader with 1,946 points surpassing Krystal Ellis’ record of 1,940. She led the team with 21 points on 10-for-20 shooting.
“Quite an accomplishment that will obviously go down in history,” head coach Carolyn Kieger said. “We celebrated that in the locker room, and that’s a testament to her, her work, and her teammates.”
“It feels good,” Blockton said. “I didn’t know I was close. I don’t really pay attention to stuff like that, and then after (Kieger) came in, she congratulated me, and it was just a great moment.”
She is now only 54 points shy of becoming the first men’s or women’s basketball player at Marquette to reach 2,000 points.
“I didn’t say anything to her until after the game,” Kieger said. “I wanted her to stay focused, and then after the game, we all talked to her and said congratulations.”
The Golden Eagles dominated in the first quarter outscoring the Wildcats 25-9. The second quarter was a different story, however, as Northwestern took advantage of Marquette’s poor shooting to narrow its deficit to four points. The Golden Eagles went 1 for 7 from beyond the arc in the first half.
“Northwestern’s a great team. They’re playing well,” Kieger said. “They have a top-50 RPI, so that’s a huge road win for us, and I think it will pay dividends down the stretch.”
Danielle King came out of the game and had to be carried off the court with an apparent leg injury in the second quarter. Kieger had no updates on her injury following the end of the game.
Despite King’s absence, Marquette remained in control of the game. A 6-0 Northwestern run in the third quarter tied the game, but the Golden Eagles never relinquished the lead.
Senior guard Natisha Hiedeman finished the night with her third double-double in her career, scoring 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Overall, Marquette shot 30 for 70 from the field and 4 for 19 from beyond-the-arc. Hiedeman was one of three Golden Eagles to finish with double-digit point totals.
Northwestern’s Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah earned a double-double as well. Lindsay Pulliam led the Wildcats with 15 points. Two other Wildcats finished the game in double digits as well.
Defensively, Marquette bounced back well after allowing a season-high 87 points against Mississippi State, limiting the Wildcats to 32-percent shooting.
The Golden Eagles are now 7-2 on the season and improved their road record to 2-2.
“We wanted to come in here and let people know who we are,” Blockton said. “We played so well against Mississippi State. … Unfortunately we came out short (against MSU).”
Marquette now has six days before its next matchup against Green-Bay Saturday at the Al McGuire Center.
“We still got stuff to fix, but I think we took a step forward, and it was good to get the win,” Blockton said.
