Marquette Golden Eagles
Overall Rank: #19
Conference Rank: #2 Big East
This could be the year that Marquette finally reaches the Sweet Sixteen. The Golden Eagles have never made it that far in the NCAA Tournament, but with five senior starters returning to a team that won the Big East regular season title, the expectations are understandably high. Coach Carolyn Kieger’s team has reached the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons and beat Dayton last year before falling at Louisville in the second round. That tournament experience will be extremely important this season.
2017-18 Record: 24-10, 15-3
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Carolyn Kieger
Coach Record: 72-55 at Marquette, 72-55 overall
Key Departed Players (starters in bold)
Shantelle Valentine, Center, 0.8 ppg
Key Returning Players (starters in bold)
Allazia Blockton, Senior, Guard, 19.1 ppg
Natisha Hiedeman, Senior, Guard, 13.4 ppg
Amani Wilborn, Senior, Guard, 12.3 ppg
Erika Davenport, Senior, Forward, 11.7 ppg
Danielle King, Senior, Guard, 11.3 ppg
Lauren Van Kleunen, Sophomore, Guard, 4.7 ppg
Isabelle Spingola, Junior, Guard, 3.9 ppg
Selena Lott, Sophomore, Guard, 2.9 ppg
Altia Anderson, Junior, Forward, 1.1 ppg
Key New Players
Amanda Maqueia, Junior, Center, JC Transfer
Chloe Marotta, Freshman, Forward
Tori McCoy, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Ohio State
Projection:
Allazia Blockton was the Big East Player of the Year last season after averaging 19.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. The senior guard also connected on 39.2 percent of her three-point attempts and will again be the leader of the Golden Eagles. Natisha Hiedeman is the team’s most prolific outside shooter, connecting on 65 shots from beyond the arc last season. Amani Wilborn dished out a team high 4.0 assists per game, while fellow guard Danielle King added 3.5 assists on top of her 11.3 points per game. Erika Davenport, a 5-11 forward, is the traditional post presence. She is not a shot blocking threat, but is very tough on the glass. Marquette relied very heavily on those five starters last season, but there is some depth on this team. Lauren Van Kleunen, Isabelle Spingola and Selena Lott all saw a decent amount of playing time last season. The Golden Eagles also add some much needed frontcourt depth with Ohio State transfer Tori McCoy and junior college transfer Amanda Maqueia. With new found frontcourt depth, Marquette has everything they need to not only win the Big East, but make a deep tournament run too.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 80.2 (17th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 70.8 (293, 9)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.3 (27, 1)
Field-Goal Defense:44.7 (338, 10)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.8 (95, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 31.9 (157, 7)
Free-Throw Percentage: 70.5 (170, 6)
Rebound Margin: 2.4 (120, 3)
Assists Per Game:15.9 (37, 3)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.8 (37, 4)
