MU reaches Big East title game.
Eagles soar into Big East final
The team that has called everyone to “Come Fly With Us” this season completely changed course Monday afternoon and grounded the Creighton Bluejays on Monday in Big East women’s tournament semifinal.
In the postseason, teams have to find different ways to win. And Marquette did just that.
The Golden Eagles, who lost by 20 to Creighton two months ago, and then again by three in the rematch, doubled down on defense and denied the Bluejays a perfect sweep of the season by prevailing, 72-65, at the Al McGuire Center.
The semifinal victory sends Marquette (24-7) to it’s first ever Big East tournament championship game vs. DePaul at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
“I got into the team in the huddle, and I said, ‘can you believe it, defense is winning this game!’ ” Marquette coach Carolyn Kieger said. “And the big smiles on their faces ... so they’re proud of their progress on the defensive end, too.”
This is progress: Creighton had five players scoring in double figures in the Jan. 2 game, shot 51% from the floor, had 42 points in the paint and 26 assists. It entered this game on a nine-game winning streak, which ranked 23rd in the nation. But this time, Marquette only allowed one double-digit scorer in Sydney Lamberty (26 points) and 26 points in the paint overall by Creighton (23-7). Marquette also had eight steals.
“We know that they like to score in the paint a lot,” Marquette point guard Danielle King said. “A lot of people take away a three most of the time, but they get a lot of passes off those back cuts and face cuts, so we tried to limit that.”
But Marquette’s offensive style is still its forte, and King was on fire in this game. She had 18 points, five assists and charged inside for five defensive rebounds.
“She’s learning when to go full speed, when to change her pace, and she’s becoming a phenomenal point guard for us,” Kieger said.
The Milwaukee duo of Amani Wilborn (21 points, four assists, 2 steals) and Allazia Blockton (19 points, 7 rebounds) starred in front of their home crowd. They helped reverse MU’s fortunes with 46 points in the paint and just four turnovers, while Creighton committed turnovers or coughed up airballs during crunch time.
MU forward Erika Davenport shut down the Bluejays in the paint and contributed eight rebounds.
When Wilborn launched a long inbound pass to Blockton for a layup, the lead grew to 71-63 lead and it was clear Marquette was not going to be denied.
“King and Blockton kind of owned the first half, I thought Wilborn was more prominent in the second half,” Creighton coach Jim Flanery said. “She’s just creative with the ball.”
Marquette is now a perfect 5-0 against top 25-ranked teams. There’s not much time to celebrate This is what Marquette has played for all year long, for this moment, at home.
“We’ve been talking about this since the beginning of the season,” Wilborn said, “so it’s just exciting being a part of it and actually playing in the championship game this year.”
Added Kieger: “I’m just excited for my players. They’ve earned it. They trusted in the process. The first two years were hard. We knew that we had talent.
“We’re going to enjoy this moment because we fought and we’ve worked really, really hard to get here.”