By Ben Jenkins, Staff Writer

The Xavier women’s basketball team has started to show signs of a major turnaround for the program.

The Musketeers are 10-10 through their first 20 games of the season, already surpassing their win total of seven wins last year. After opening Big East play with a win over the Providence College Friars, they took down the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on the back of MacKenize Givens’ 25 point performance. 

They then beat the St. Francis College Red Flash and the Long Island University Sharks to take a four game win streak heading into the rest of Big East play. 

The Big East has been a challenge for the team over the course of the last few seasons. In the last three years, Xavier only won one game in the conference. They now have three Big East wins through the first half of the season. 

Xavier went to Washington D.C and stunned the Georgetown University Hoyas, winning 52-51 after pulling away in the dying moments of the game. The Musketeers were led by Meri Kanerva, who played all 40 minutes of the game and led the team in scoring with 14 points.

After a tough 17-point loss to the Villanova University Wildcats they bounced back with a big win over the DePaul University Blue Demons. Once again the Musketeers were led by Givens, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

St. John’s University’s Red Storm were able to steal a victory at the buzzer, winning 66-64. Mariyah Noel was a major bright spot for the Musketeers. She stuffed the stat sheet with 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the narrow loss.

The Musketeers lost arguably the hardest game any team can play in 2026, at number one ranked University of Connecticut Huskies. Following this game, Xavier bounced back in a big way with an important win over the Butler University Bulldogs.

St. John’s University’s Red Storm got the best of the Muskies in New York City winning 71-52, but Maryiah Noel had another great game. She finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, doing everything she could for the Musketeers

To finish the east coast road trip, Providence pulled away for a 66-50 win. Though it has been a tough stretch, the path gets easier to finish Big East play.

Villanova University, Seton Hall University and Creighton University will travel to Cincinnati in the coming weeks. Xavier has kept it competitive on the road with all three schools this year, so a home matchup will be great opportunities for the Musketeers.

Xavier will also travel to Chicago looking to get the season sweep on DePaul. On that same trip they will head up to Milwaukee for a rematch with Marquette University Golden Eagles. 

Xavier’s Savannah White has been unsung here for the Musketeers all year long. She is currently second in the Big East in blocks, averaging 1.8 a night along with a 7.2 rebounds, which has her sitting at fifth in the conference. 

Mariyah Noel has also been fantastic all year. She is fourth in the conference in points per game, averaging 16 a night along with 6.5 rebounds, which puts her sixth in the Big East.

There is belief within the program that there are still plenty of winnable games on the schedule. 

“There is definitely a desire for more with this group, we are expecting a great finish to Big East play, and to take that into the tournament,” women’s basketball manager Jacob Halbesma said. “We definitely think we can take down some heavy weights in the Big East during the tournament”.

It has not been a perfect season for Xavier, but wins are starting to come and they will look to continue this into next season.