By: Donnie Menke ~Staff Writer~

The women’s basketball team has dropped their last three games, with losses to DePaul, Georgetown and Villanova.

Although Xavier was only down one at the end of the first quarter, 21-20, DePaul took control in the second quarter to take a 48-30 lead into halftime. In the second half, Xavier brought the game within 12 until DePaul went on a 6-0 run to essentially ice the game.

Although Xavier outscored DePaul by two in the second half, the lead was never threatened as DePaul won handily 85-69. Redshirt senior Raeshaun Gaffney led the team in scoring with 22 points. Freshman Na’Teshia Owens dished out a team-high four assists in addition to eight points.

After a tough loss to DePaul on the road, Xavier hosted Georgetown in Cintas this past Friday to try to right the ship. In a tight contest, Georgetown emerged victorious after a 69-64 overtime battle. The first quarter was back and forth, with Xavier leading 10-8 at the end of it. Redshirt sophomore Imani Partlow scored nine of her 15 points in the quarter while going perfect from the floor. Xavier shot 8/12 in the second quarter to stretch the lead to seven heading into halftime, with the score at 28-21. The third quarter proved to be a turning point, however, as Georgetown went on a 15-6 run to take a 43-38 into the fourth quarter.

Xavier made a comeback to take a 57-55 with 23 seconds left, but Georgetown’s Dorothy Adomako made two free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime. Georgetown took control in overtime and made its first four shots to take a five point lead, and never lost the lead. Gaffney again led the team in scoring with 21 points, while Partlow led the team with nine rebounds.

The tough stretch continued against Villanova, with Xavier losing 72-47 at home. The loss dropped Xavier to 10-10 (2-7) on the year. Nova jumped out to a quick 14-6 lead before adding six more to stretch the lead to 20-6 at the end of the first quarter. Once Nova got the lead, it never looked back, holding a double digit lead for most of the game. Xavier’s offense never really got going, shooting 20/59 from the floor and 1/10 from three. Junior Marquia Turner led the team with 11 points, while junior Anniina Aijanen led with nine rebounds.

Xavier returns to action against Seton Hall on Jan. 27 in South Orange, N.J., with tipoff at 7 p.m.