The women’s basketball team dropped a pair of conference games last week to No. 10 Marquette, 90-44, and DePaul, 73-71 in overtime.
Against Marquette, the Musketeers got down big early, trailing by 22 with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter.
They held their own with Marquette in the second quarter, as each team scored 16 points and neither were able to cut into the lead or pull away from the other. As a result, Marquette led 50-29 heading into halftime.
Marquette came out strong to start the second half, going on a 13-3 run and leading 63-32 after about six minutes of action.
Marquette continued to build its lead, outscoring Xavier 17-7 the rest of the quarter for an 80-39 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Xavier’s defense was strong in the fourth quarter, holding Marquette to just 10 points — its lowest in a quarter for the game. It was not enough, however, as Xavier lost to Marquette 90-44 when the final buzzer sounded.
Sophomore guard Aaliyah Dunham led the team in scoring with 16 points, tying a career high, while also making four three-point field goals. She also had two steals. Sophomore forward A’riana Gray scored six points while grabbing a team high 11 rebounds.
After Marquette, Xavier faced DePaul, looking to bounce back from the loss. Xavier fell behind 9-2 early and trailed 21-13 at the end of the first quarter. This was largely because of turnovers, as DePaul scored 15 points off Xavier turnovers.
The Musketeers cut the deficit to just one point, 26-25, after starting the second quarter on a 12-5 run. DePaul responded well to push its lead back to eight points, with the score 39-31 heading into halftime.
Another run to open the third quarter brought the score back level, as Xavier outscored DePaul 17-9 to start the second half and tie the game at 48-48. DePaul then finished the quarter outscoring Xavier 6-4 to take the lead back heading into the final period, leading 53-51.
Xavier was able to pull ahead in the fourth quarter, 57-55, with just under six minutes remaining in the game. It got up 65-61 with just under two minutes left in the game, but a 4-0 DePaul run brought the Blue Demons back even with Xavier, and the score was tied 65-65 heading into overtime.
DePaul got off to a quick start in overtime, leading 71-66 before Xavier was able to get within a point, 72-71, two minutes later. DePaul was able to make one more free throw, and a missed shot at the buzzer sealed a win for the Blue Demons over Xavier.
Junior guard Tee Owens scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed four rebounds. Dunham reached 10 points while also dishing out four assists and grabbing four steals.
Gray and sophomore guard Princess Stewart both finished with double-doubles, with Gray scoring 11 points and corraling a team-high 14 rebounds while Stewart finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
By: Donnie Menke | Staff Writer