MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Four double figure scorers and a combined 37 points from Preseason All-Big East selections Erika Davenport and Allazia Blockton lifted Marquette to an 87-37 win over Longwood Friday night in the season-opener at the Al McGuire Center.
Davenport finished with the game's lone double-double with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in 23 minutes, while Blockton poured in 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor. Each named Preseason All-Big East, Davenport and Blockton combined for 23 points in the opening half, helping the Golden Eagles (1-0) to a .440 (18-of-41) shooting clip throughout the first half.
"This was a tough start to the season," said Longwood head coach
Bill Reinson. "I wasn't completely certain what to expect, but this certainly wasn't it. We're extremely young and I expected nerves to be an issue, but we weren't as aggressive as we needed to be."
Coming off a 15-point outing in Longwood's lone exhibition game against Randolph,
Jada Russell tallied 13 points in her Lancer debut, as she also added two rebounds and a pair of steals in 29 minutes in her Longwood debut.
A product of Yeadon, Pa., Russell's 13 points mark the most for a Longwood freshman in their collegiate debut since
Daeisha Brown scored 18 points against Richmond in her debut in the 2012 season.
Russell was one of four Lancers to make their career debuts, as
Dayna Rouse,
Winnie Miller and
Khaila Hall also got on the floor. Rouse, a Pittsburgh, Pa., native tallied six points in 16 minutes of action.
For the Lancers (0-1), who opened the season on the road for the eighth time in the school's 10-year Division I era, six different players found the scoring column with Rouse (6), Russell (13),
Micaela Ellis (7) and
Kate Spradlin (5) combining for 31 of Longwood's 37 points.
The Golden Eagles finished the game with a .456 (36-of-79) shooting clip, including a 10-of-34 performance from beyond the arc. In addition, Marquette stifled the Longwood offense, holding the Lancers to .255 (12-of-47) shooting and 28 turnovers while out-rebounding the Lancers by a 52-31 margin.
"The biggest disappointment was in our rebounding," Reinson said. "We completely abandoned everything that we worked on."
The 18 points from Davenport was just four shy of her career-high of 22 points, tallied last season at Providence. Davenport helped the Golden Eagles control the paint, as she finished 8-of-11 shooting in the contest and brought down 10 boards for her 10th career double-double.
Davenport and Blockton – the reigning Big East Player of the Year – were two of four Golden Eagles to finish in double figures, as they were joined by McKayla Yentz (14) and Danielle King (10).
"I think we have unlimited potential in that locker room," Reinson said. "This was one of 30-plus games, so we'll learn from it. I'm excited to get to practice. We have a lot to work on, but we have a terrific group who will work to get better."
Longwood looks to rebound Tuesday, Nov. 15, as the Lancers travel to iconic Cameron Indoor Stadium to face national powerhouse Duke. That game is set for a 7 p.m. tip and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, available on the WatchESPN app.
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