Musketeers Close Homestand Against Georgetown on FS2

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's basketball closes its four-game homestand on Sunday, Jan. 28 against Georgetown. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from Cintas Center with the game being aired nationally on FS2.

The Musketeers are 9-12 (2-8 BIG EAST) on the year, while the Hoyas are 9-11 (4-6 BIG EAST).

THE MATCHUP VS GEORGETOWN

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (9-12, 2-8) vs GEORGETOWN HOYAS (9-11, 4-6)
Game Info - Sunday, Jan. 28 - 2 p.m. ET - Cintas Center (10,244)
Live video (FS2) - bit.ly/2DPFUVf
Live stats - bit.ly/1lYmT6d

ABOUT GEORGETOWN

2017-18 Record: 9-11 (4-6 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: WNIT - First Round
Series History: Tied, 6-6

NOTABLES
• The Hoyas are coming off a 63-52 win at Butler on Friday night. Georgetown is 4-5 in road games with a 2-3 mark in conference games.
• Georgetown ranks second in the BIG EAST in scoring defense (60.0). Dionna White ranks second in the conference in scoring (17.6), while Yazmine Belk ranks first in blocks (2.0). Cynthia Petke ranks third in rebounding (9.4).
• In BIG EAST only games, the Hoyas lead the conference in steals (9.7). Dionna White and DiDi Burton are tied for first in the conference in those games, averaging 2.4 steals per game.

SERIES HISTORY

• The series between the two schools is tied, 6-6. Xavier is 4-1 against the Hoyas at home. The Musketeers have also dropped four straight in the series.

LAST TIME OUT VS GEORGETOWN

• Xavier dropped the first meeting between the two schools, 65-60, on Jan. 2 in Washington, D.C. Anniina Äijänen scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting with three 3-pointers. The senior forward added two rebounds, one assist and one block.

• Jada Byrd added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Imani Partlow and Deja Ross both added eight. Aaliyah Dunham finished the game with six points and a team-high four assists.

• Georgetown won the battle on the glass, 41-24. The Hoyas also outscored Xavier in second-chance points, 21-2. Georgetown pulled down 18 offensive rebounds in the game. Xavier held a 24-9 advantage in bench points and scored 11 points off of turnovers.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier is coming off an 89-50 loss to Villanova on Friday night at Cintas Center. The Wildcats posted the best field-goal percentage (.617) by a BIG EAST team in nearly four years to pull off the victory.

• Na'Teshia Owens led the Musketeers with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting. She added three rebounds.

• Aaliyah Dunham added nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, while Kindell Fincher and Princess Stewart both chipped in six points. Stewart also led the team in assists with three.

• Villanova won the battle on the glass, 38-31. A'riana Gray led the Musketeers in rebounds with six in 21 minutes of action off the bench. She also had a game-high four steals.

BREAKOUT SENIOR SEASONS

• Jada Byrd ranks tied for second on the team in scoring (8.8). The senior guard entered the year averaging 2.1 points per game over her first three seasons.

• Anniina Äijänen ranks tied for second on the team in scoring, averaging 8.8 points per game. The senior forward entered the year averaging 3.0 points per game over her first three seasons. She also leads the team in field-goal percentage (.466) to rank ninth in the conference.

BIG EAST PLAY

• Imani Partlow leads the team in scoring during BIG EAST action, averaging 9.3 points per game. She has added a .522 field-goal percentage – the fifth best percentage in the conference – and 4.7 rebounds per game.

• Anniina Äijänen has added 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during conference action. Her .500 field-goal percentage ranks seventh in the BIG EAST.

• Deja Ross ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in three-point field-goal percentage, hitting 42.3 percent of her shot attempts (11-for-26).

• Aaliyah Dunham ranks 10th in the BIG EAST in assists per game (3.3), one of only two freshmen ranked in the top-10.

NOTABLES

• Anniina Äijänen has averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game over her last three outings. The senior forward has hit 62.5 percent (15-for-24) of her shot attempts over her last three games. She has also gone 6-for-12 from behind the arc.

• Aaliyah Dunham has averaged 8.0 points per game with a .571 field-goal percentage (8-for-14) in her last three games.

• Xavier has had nine different leading scorers through 21 games this season. Jada Byrd has led the team in scoring five times. Imani Partlow, the team's leading scorer, has only led the team in scoring once (at Marquette).

• A'riana Gray has averaged 4.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season. Gray's 5.4 rebounds per game leads all BIG EAST freshmen, while ranking 16th overall. She posted her first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) at Minnesota on Nov. 22.

• Xavier ranks 13th nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (13.8). The Musketeers also rank 33rd in three pointers made (164).

NOTABLES TEAM PERFORMANCES

• Xavier attempted a school record 35 three pointers against Cincinnati. The previous record was 34 attempts at Richmond on Jan. 20, 2002. The Musketeers also had 35 attempts against FAMU on Dec. 22.

• Xavier held Cincinnati to only 50 points on Dec. 10, the seventh time in the last two seasons the Musketeers have held an opponent to 50 or fewer points.

• The overtime win against New Hampshire was the first overtime victory for the Musketeers since a 74-67 win against Villanova on Dec. 31, 2015. Xavier went 0-3 in overtime games last season.

XU FROM THREE POINT RANGE

• Xavier has made 10 three pointers in a game six times this season. The Musketeers haven't scored 10 or more three pointers on more than one occasion in a season since the 2013-14 campaign.

• Xavier is averaging 7.8 three pointers per game to rank fourth in the BIG EAST. The Musketeers averaged 5.4 three pointers per game last season. The Musketeers have made 164 three pointers this season, three more than all of last season (161).

• Freshman Aaliyah Dunham leads the BIG EAST in three-point field-goal percentage as she has hit 47.9 percent (23-for-48) of her shot attempts from behind the arc. Na'Teshia Owens (.407) ranks seventh and Deja Ross (.397) ranks 11th.

YOUNG MUSKETEERS

• Xavier enters the season with one of the youngest teams in the BIG EAST. The Musketeers have the second most underclassmen (9) in the conference behind Villanova (10).

• The Musketeers also have six true freshmen, the most of any team in the conference.

• Xavier's underclassmen have played in 58.6 percent of the team's minutes this season.

• Xavier returns four upperclassmen (two seniors, two juniors) who entered the season with 42 combined career starts. Those four players (Jada Byrd, Anniina Äijänen, Imani Partlow and Kindell Fincher) combined to average 21.7 points per game last season.

PRESEASON POLL

• The Musketeers were picked to finish 10th in the preseason coaches' poll as voted on by conference head coaches. Xavier was the only team in the BIG EAST without a player on the preseason all-conference team.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• Xavier will play 16 games at Cintas Center this season (seven non-conference; nine BIG EAST games). The non-conference home schedule is highlighted by the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Sunday, Dec. 10 against Cincinnati. Xavier has won three straight in the series, including 10 of the last 13 meetings.

• The Musketeers open the BIG EAST season with three-straight road games before playing back-to-back home contests against St. John's (Jan. 7) and Seton Hall (Jan. 10).

• Xavier opens and closes the season against Butler. The Musketeers travel to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Dec. 29 for a nationally televised matchup on FS2 and host the Bulldogs on Feb. 25.

• The Musketeers have won 33 non-conference games over the last four seasons with a 28-4 mark at Cintas Center.

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

• Xavier took on three opponents for the first time in school history in Mount St. Mary's, Furman and FAMU. The contests with New Hampshire, Minnesota and Grambling were only the second meetings with each opponent in program history.

• Xavier's non-conference opponents combined to post a 186-192 overall record a year ago. Five teams posted winning records, while four teams advanced to postseason play (3 - WNIT; 1 - NCAA).

• All told, Xavier took on an opponent from 11 different conferences.

XU BASKETBALL HISTORY

• Xavier has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently advancing to the tournament's second round in 2011.

• The Musketeers' best NCAA Tournament finish was in 2001 and 2010 as XU advanced to the Elite Eight.

FOX SPORTS

• FOX Sports will nationally televise 15 regular-season games, while the BIG EAST Digital Network will carry an additional 74 conference matchups for a third consecutive season.

• The BEDN, launched in September 2014, is its own dedicated section within FOX Sports GO, the mobile app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on-the-go. FOX Sports GO is currently available for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire tablets and Fire phones, select Windows devices, and on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. Streaming on FOX Sports GO is also now available on several connected devices, including Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast. Fans can download the mobile app for free from the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Windows Store.

NATIONAL BROADCASTS

• Xavier is slated to play three nationally televised games on FS2.

FS2 Games
Friday, Dec. 29 at Butler - 7 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28 vs Georgetown - 2 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 vs Marquette - 8 p.m.

UP NEXT

• Xavier hits the road for back-to-back BIG EAST games at Seton Hall (Feb. 2) and St. John's (Feb. 4).

Schedule

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