MU women drub Seton Hall

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – After watching her team fall to St. John’s on Friday night, snapping a 12-game win streak, Marquette coach Carolyn Kieger challenged her players with a spirited workout the next day.

“Intense might be the right word,” Kieger said.

“It was intense, but we needed it,” senior guard Natisha Hiedeman said. “We all bought in. We were focused and trusted each other.”

That focus carried over to Sunday, when the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles easily dispatched Seton Hall, 109-63.

Hiedeman scored a career-high 34 points and Danielle King added 20 points and a career-best 12 assists as the Golden Eagles (22-4, 13-1 Big East) posted their highest scoring total of the season.

Hiedeman, the Golden Eagles’ leading scorer at 17.3 points per game entering Sunday, scored just three points against St. John’s.

“Coach (Kieger) told me that I need to work harder,” Hiedeman said. “If you work hard, sometimes the basketball gods give you a gift.”

Another gift came from the Pirates, as their leading scorer, junior forward Shadeen Samuels, was sidelined with an injured shoulder. Samuels is averaging 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

“We just got very overwhelmed,” Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said. “Our fight just wasn’t there. I knew Friday night around 9:30 p.m. (when the Marquette-St. John’s game ended) that this one was going to be a problem. They did a great job sharing the ball.”

The Golden Eagles had 27 assists. “We did a good job sharing the basketball,” Kieger said. “When we set each other up like that, we’re really hard to beat. I’m proud of their response after Friday night, proud of their toughness, energy and effort. Friday night was not the standard of how we played. We showed up big time today.”

Seton Hall (14-12, 6-9) received 21 points from Desiree Elmore, her second straight game of 20-plus points. Inja Butina added 13 for the Pirates.