Natisha Hiedeman pours in 32 points as Marquette downs Dayton
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Marquette needed a quick lift against Dayton, and Natisha Hiedeman was prepared to help early and often.
She carried the Golden Eagles long enough for teammates to join in before punctuating an impressive victory and personal best with more long-range jumpers.
Hiedeman scored a career-high 32 points, including 18 in the first quarter, and No. 8 seed Marquette rallied past ninth-seeded Dayton for an 84-65 victory Friday in a women’s NCAA Tournament first-round game.
Hiedeman’s 5 three-pointers in the first quarter were critical in rallying the Golden Eagles (24-9) from an 11-3 deficit to a 22-15 lead that they maintained for their first NCAA win since 2011. The junior guard scored Marquette’s first 15 points but wasn’t done after putting her team ahead, adding a few more three-pointers in the second half on the way to finishing 8 of 12 from behind the arc and 10 of 18 overall to surpass her career best by two points.
BOX SCORE:Marquette 84, Dayton 65
“I just kind of took it into my hands for a hot second and tried to put the ball in the hoop,” Hiedeman said. “My teammates realized that I was hot, and after the first quarter we were just finding each other.
“I just didn’t want to lose. None of us want to lose.”
Marquette coach Carolyn Kieger’s only concern early on was making sure her team didn’t become frustrated after missing good initial chances. She called timeout to settle down her players, who followed Hiedeman’s lead to keep it at.
“We were anxious,” said Golden Eagles guard Allazia Blockton, who had 15 points. “We had a lot of good looks and we were just missing them, over-thinking them. Coach told us to take a deep breath, and I think that calmed us all down and we were able to go on a run after that.”
Erika Davenport had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Marquette, which won for the ninth time in 10 games.
The Golden Eagles will face top-seeded Louisville in the second round Sunday.
The Flyers (23-7) got within 69-58 early in the fourth quarter before jumpers by Davenport and Danielle King (11 points) stretched Marquette’s lead back out to 23 with 3:18 remaining.
Jenna Burdette’s 18 points led Dayton, which finished the season with three losses in four games.
The Flyers shot 70% in the first quarter before making just 15 of 47 shots after that (32%) to finish at 39%. They couldn’t stop Hiedeman from getting free outside, costing them their lead and the outcome. The Flyers’ only consolation was outrebounding Marquette, 42-36. Turnovers also hurt the Flyers.
“I don’t think we executed very well on most of our press breaks,” guard Lauren Cannatelli said of their Marquette’s pressure. “That was a major contributing factor.”
The Golden Eagles entered averaging 32% from long range, though it was hard to tell with Hiedeman consistently knocking down shots.
Blockton added three from long range as they finished 12 of 26 on threes and shot 44% overall. They also scored 22 points off 19 Dayton turnovers.
Marquette was motivated after being upset, 68-65, by 13th-seeded Quinnipiac in the tournament last year and wasn’t leaving anything to chance as a slight favorite against Dayton.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment the entire year,” Kieger said. “Our players were really motivated by that. They were really disappointed last year, and I think they came out and proved that their hard work over the past year has paid off.”