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Marquette started out hot against Florida International on Friday afternoon, hitting five of their first seven three-pointer attempts. That kept going all game long as MU shot 52% for the game & 56% from long range en route to beating FIU 95-83 in the semifinals of the FIU Turkey Slam.
McKayla Yentz hit four triples in the game, and all four came in the first five minutes as MU built a 19-8 lead. With that kind of a ferocious start, the question was what would Marquette do when they cooled off? Head coach Carolyn Kieger never had to answer that question, as MU would never lead by fewer than four points, which happened a couple of times in the second quarter.
Even after the margin dipped that close, Marquette would answer with the next two buckets to give them some breathing space. It would end up being a nine point game at the half, and after Danielle King hit a jumper to break the ice after halftime, it would never dive below double digits until there was just not enough time left in the game for FIU to do anything about it.
Yentz got things going, but it was another outstanding game from Allazia Blockton that propelled the Golden Eagles all game long. The Milwaukee native had career bests in points with 24 and rebounds with 11, and 15 of those 24 came after halftime. Blockton didn't just provide the scoring, she also contributed to Marquette's hot shooting with a 10-13 night, missing just one shot in the first half and two in the second.
Five Golden Eagles hit double digits in scoring - Blockton, Yentz, Natisha Hiedeman, Danielle King, and Erika Davenport - and Hiedeman was the only one that didn't record a new career high. Really, the only thing you can be critical about MU's play in this game is turnovers, as they coughed it up 19 times. In an 82 possession game like this, that many give aways isn't the worst thing (23.1% turnover rate), but King had seven all by herself and Heideman's four turnovers isn't anything to FaceTime back home about either.
Marquette moves to 1-4 on the season with the win, which also gives Kieger her 10th career win.
Up Next: Marquette is off on Saturday before taking on Richmond for the FIU Turkey Slam championship on Sunday at 11am Central. The Spiders (5-0) defeated Wichita State 63-50 in Friday's other semifinal game.