Sophomore Carrie Gross matches career-best 12 points against the Owls
By Joe Clark | Staff Writer
Sophomore guard Carrie Gross matched a career-best with 12 points against Temple while also grabbing seven rebounds, and she parlayed that performance to score 11 points against Rider. The Musketeers conclude their three–game road trip Wednesday night against Ball State.
Despite strong individual performances by sophomore guard Carrie Gross and junior forward A’riana Gray, the women’s basketball team was unable to pull out a win in either of its two latest non-conference games — losing 78-65 to Temple and 64-57 to Rider.
The Musketeers had trouble finding a rhythm out of the gates against Temple, trailing 9-0 early in the first quarter before going on a 15-5 run to end the quarter.
Temple went on a 15-5 run to start the second quarter, leading 29-20, but five straight points by the Musketeers brought them to within four. Gray paced Xavier at the half with 10 points, while Gross chipped in five points and seven rebounds.
A 15-11 run in the third quarter helped Xavier cut the deficit to one at 43-42 with 2:20 left. It then went up 47-44 with just under a minute left in the quarter. Temple answered back with a 3-pointer of its own, and the score was knotted up at 47 apiece heading into the fourth quarter.
Xavier jumped out to a 52-47 lead to start the fourth quarter, but Temple responded with a huge 20-4 run to take a 67-56 lead with a little more than five minutes left to play.
A long dry stretch allowed Temple to pull away to finish off the 78-65 win. Gross tied a career-high with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Xavier got off to another slow start against Rider, trailing 11-0 as Rider made five of its first six shots.
The Musketeers played better in the second quarter, but Rider was able to close the quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 27-23 at the half. Gray had six points and four rebounds at the half for Xavier, while junior guard Aaliyah Dunham had five points, four rebounds and two steals.
Rider went up 41-30 with 4:57 left in the third quarter, but again Xavier answered back with its own run to bring the score to 41-38. Rider responded with a 5-0 run to end the quarter and take a 46-38 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the Musketeers cut their deficit to 61-57 with just 40 seconds left, but Rider finished strong at the free throw line to close out the 64-57 win. It was a balanced scoring effort for Xavier as Dunham, Gray and Gross each finished with 11 points while junior guard Deja Ross finished with 10 points.
Xavier looks to get back on track when it ends its three-game road trip against Ball State on Wednesday before returning home to play Wright State on Saturday.
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