Box Score
Marquette Quotes | Georgetown Quotes
CHICAGO — Marquette was back in a familiar place on Monday, playing in the BIG EAST Semifinals for the third straight year. Now the top-seeded Golden Eagles (26-6) have one more goal to realize after they reached the conference tournament finals with a 75-62 victory over Georgetown at Wintrust Arena.
Natisha Hiedeman and Allazia Blockton each scored 23 points while Amani Wilborn added 12. Blockton also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
No. 13 Marquette, which won the BIG EAST Tournament in 2017 and was runner up last year, will face either DePaul or Creighton in Tuesday’s title game.
Dorothy Adomako scored a game-high 27 points while Dionna White added 16 for No. 4 seed Georgetown (16-15).
The Golden Eagles opened with consecutive 3 pointers from Blockton and Selena Lott followed by a 13-0 run over the final 4:37 for a 22-12 lead after one quarter.
Marquette extended the run with seven straight points and a 29-12 lead to start the second and eventually opened a 20-point lead at 36-16 on two Danielle King free throws.
But the Hoyas made their own run to climb back into contention. They used a 9-0 surge over the final 2:37 as the Golden Eagles lead slipped to 39-33 at halftime. Adomako had seven points during that effort and closed the half with 19 points.
Marquette reasserted control in the third quarter as Hiedeman and Wilborn combined for 15 points for a 62-42 lead entering the final 10 minutes.
Georgetown put on another surge in the fourth, scoring 12 unanswered points to make it a nine-point game at 66-57. But Blockton ended the run with a three-point play to restore at 12-point lead with 3:57 left in regulation.
The Hoyas never got any closer the rest of the way.
The Golden Eagles’ bid for back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles fell short last year when DePaul claimed a 98-63 championship game decision at Wintrust Arena.
Tuesday’s championship game is set for 7 p.m. on the same court. It’s the second year the finals are at the new arena, part of the sprawling lakefront McCormick Place complex.
Championship women’s college basketball returns to Wintrust Arena in late March when it hosts an NCAA Division I Regional.