Musketeers Close Homestand on Thursday Against Grambling State

Thursday, November 16

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 p.m.

Xavier University

Grambling State

Musketeers Close Homestand on Thursday Against Grambling State

11.15.17 | Women's Basketball

XU Notes (PDF)XU Stat Packet (PDF)GSU Notes (PDF)Watch Live Live Stats

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's basketball ends a three-game homestand on Thursday, Nov. 16 against Grambling State. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.

The Musketeers are 2-0 on the year, while the Lady Tigers are 1-1.

THE MATCHUP VS GRAMBLING

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (2-0) vs GRAMBLING STATE LADY TIGERS (1-1)
Game Info - Thursday, Nov. 16 - 7 p.m. - Cintas Center
Live stats - bit.ly/1lYmT6d
Live video - bit.ly/2zHC2kA

ABOUT GRAMBLING

2017-18 Record: 1-1 (0-0 SWAC)
2017 Postseason: WNIT - Second Round
Series History: Xavier trails, 1-0

NOTABLES
• The Lady Tigers posted a 19-15 (14-4 SWAC) record last season. Grambling State advanced to the second round of the WNIT before falling to Tulane.
• Grambling State returns four starters from last year's team, highlighted by junior guard Shakyla Hill who was tabbed the SWAC Preseason Player of the Year. Jazmin Boyd, Monisha Neal and Jazmine Torian all picked up All-SWAC Preseason Second Team honors.
• The Lady Tigers are 1-1 on the year and are coming off a 61-52 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 13.
• Junior guard Shakyla Hill leads the team in scoring (15.0), rebounding (5.5) and field-goal percentage (.524). She has added a team-high 10 assists and eight steals on the year.

PROMOTIONS

PROMOTION: Social Media BOGO Night - The team's Facebook and Twitter accounts will post a Social Media BOGO graphic the week of, and fans that retweet, repost or share the graphic will receive a FREE ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket. Simply show the staff at the ticket window your retweet, repost or share to receive the offer.
GIVEAWAY: Schedule magnet to first 500 fans

BIG EAST HONORS

• Jada Byrd was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for her on-court performance in the Musketeers' season opener on Saturday, Nov. 11. The senior guard led Xavier to a 71-66 overtime victory against New Hampshire.

• The Lithonia, Ga., native scored a team-high 13 points, while adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier is coming off a 66-45 win against Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

• Xavier never trailed in the game and opened the contest by outscoring the Mountaineers, 16-2, in the first quarter. The Musketeers limited Mount St. Mary's to only one field goal (1-for-15) in the first quarter. The last time Xavier held an opponent to one field in a quarter was on Feb. 4, 2017 at Butler (1-for-13 in the fourth quarter).
• The Musketeers hit 68.2 percent (15-for-22) of their shot attempts in the second half, building a 25-point advantage (66-41) at the 2:06 mark.

NOTABLES

• Freshman Aaliyah Dunham scored a game-high 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting against Mount St. Mary's. The guard is averaging 10.5 points per game with a .545 field-goal percentage this season.

• Junior Imani Partlow had 12 points and seven rebounds in the win over Mount St. Mary's. The forward leads the team in scoring (10.5) and rebounding (6.5).

• Freshman A'riana Gray was one point shy of her first career double-double against Mount St. Mary's. The forward had nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. She is averaging 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season.

• Xavier held Mount St. Mary's to only 45 points on Tuesday night, the fifth time in the last two seasons the Musketeers have held an opponent under 50 points.

• Sophomores Ashley Gomez and Na'Teshia Owens both made their first career starts against New Hampshire.

• 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.

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 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.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Xavier hit 10 three pointers against New Hampshire, the first time the Musketeers have hit 10 or more threes in a game since Nov. 22, 2016. The Musketeers hit 13 in an 83-46 win over North Florida.

• Xavier posted a 29-0 advantage in bench points the Wildcats. The Musketeers' six freshmen scored all 29 bench points.

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 29 non-conference games over the last four seasons with a 24-3 mark at Cintas Center.

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

• Xavier will take on two opponents for the first time in school history in Mount St. Mary's and Furman. The contests with New Hampshire, Minnesota and Grambling will be 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).

• Xavier will face two teams from the ACC during non-conference play. All told, Xavier will take 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 - 7 p.m.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at Minnesota. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. ET.