Davenport, Blockton lead Marquette to 90-44 win over Xavier

CINCINNATI (AP) — Allazia Blockton reached a scoring milestone in another Marquette rout.

Blockton became the first Marquette player, men or women, to score 2,000 career points and the 10th-ranked Golden Eagles beat Xavier 90-44 on Friday night.

The reigning Big East Player of the Year missed five games with an ankle injury before returning Sunday against St. John's. Even without their star, the Golden Eagles were able to keep winning and moved up to 10th in the poll — their highest ranking ever.

She finished with 15 points and leads a quintet of 1,000 point scorers in coach Carolyn Kieger's first recruiting class.

"It's incredible for Allazia. It's incredible for our team," Kieger said. "I take a lot of pride in the way we share the ball and it's a testament to her teammates too. She can hurt you in multiple ways. It's no surprise that she has 2,000 (2,004) and counting."

Blockon echoed the team concept and credits Kieger for pushing her to return.

"She told me that she was going to be tough on me. It's been a struggle for me to get back on the court," Blockton said. "She's intense. She's been keeping my spirits up. A lot of great players have come through the doors at Marquette. It shows my hard work has paid off. I give all the thanks to my teammates. They keep me pumped up."

Erika Davenport led Marquette with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman, the leading scorer in the conference, added 18 as the Golden Eagles posted 90 or more points for the ninth time.

"We were playing Marquette basketball," Davenport said. "We like to press. Gray is a really good rebounder. I had to be aggressive."

Davenport, Hiedeman and Blockton are joined by Amani Wilborn and Danielle King in their lofty club.

The Golden Eagles intend to continue the pressure.

"We talked about this before. How elite can we be?" Kieger asked. "The best of the best in any sport keep measuring themselves by are they getting better every single day. We don't talk about the rankings or our record."

Marquette (17-3, 8-0) jumped out to a commanding first quarter lead, 34-13, before Xavier (10-9, 1-7) got untracked.

Aaliyah Dunham scored 16 points to lead Xavier. A'riana Gray the Big East's leading rebounder managed 11 to pace the Musketeers.

Davenport turned in a double-double by halftime, leading the Golden Eagles to a 50-29 halftime lead.

BACK IN The 90's

Marquette has scored 90 or more points nine times this season to rank fourth in the NCAA at 87.5 at gametime.

DEFENSE TESTED

Xavier allowed 62.9 points-per-game coming into the game.

SERIES

Marquette leads the series 13-7 with six straight wins. Xavier's last win over the Golden Eagles was in 2016 at the Cintas Center, 71-66.

1,000 POINT CLUB

The Golden Eagles is one of two programs in the country with five players scoring 1,000 or more career points. Blockton 2,004, Hiedeman 1,623, Davenport 1,394, Wilborn 1,200 and King 1,2001.

BIG PICTURE

Marquette should continue to stay in the top 10 with a win over Butler on Sunday.

Xavier is 11-42 all-time against teams ranked in the Top 25, including a 78-53 loss to then No. 25 Minnesota on Nov. 14. The Musketeers last defeated a ranked team in 2009 when they beat No. 18 Kansas in the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.

UP NEXT:

Marquette will travel head to Butler on Sunday.

Xavier will host DePaul on Sunday.