Musketeers Travel to West Palm Beach Invitational

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's basketball travels to the West Palm Beach Invitational on Dec. 17-18. The two-day tournament is being hosted at the Student Life Center on the campus of Keiser University.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Sunday, Dec. 17 vs Furman - 6 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 18 vs Missouri - 5 p.m.

THE MATCHUP VS FURMAN

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (5-3) vs FURMAN PALADINS (7-3)
Game Info - Sunday, Dec. 17 - 6 p.m. ET - Student Life Center
Live stats - bit.ly/2z9yoBn
Live video - bit.ly/2z9yoBn
Live audio - bit.ly/2j0xQ8c

ABOUT FURMAN

2017-18 Record: 7-3 (0-0 SoCon)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: First Meeting

NOTABLES
• Sunday's game against Furman will be the first meeting in school history.
• Furman was slated to finish fifth in the SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 14-17 (7-7 SoCon) record last season.
• The Paladins lead the SoCon in field-goal percentage (.434) and rebounding margin (+5.0). Le'Jzae Davidson and Cierra Carter pace the team in scoring as both players have averaged 13.7 points per game. Carter also leads the team in rebounding (6.5).

THE MATCHUP VS MISSOURI

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (5-3) vs No. 16 MISSOURI TIGERS (9-1)
Game Info - Monday, Dec. 18 - 5 p.m. ET - Student Life Center
Live stats - bit.ly/2z9yoBn
Live video - bit.ly/2z9yoBn
Live audio - bit.ly/2o1lNwm

ABOUT MISSOURI

2017-18 Record: 9-1 (0-0 SEC)
2017 Postseason: NCAA Tournament - Second Round
Series History: Xavier leads, 2-0

NOTABLES
• Xavier is 2-0 all-time against the Tigers. The Musketeers won the last meeting between the two schools, 83-51, on Jan. 5, 2011.
• The Tigers were picked to finish third in the SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 22-11 (11-5 SEC) record last year. The Tigers defeated South Florida in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Florida State in the second round.
• Sophie Cunningham, Cierra Porter and Jordan Frericks earned Preseason All-SEC honors. The three players have combined to average 42.2 points and 22.5 rebounds per game this season.

XU VS THE TOP-25

• The Musketeers are 11-38 all-time against teams ranked in the top-25. The last time Xavier played a top-25 team was on Feb. 24, 2017 against No. 25 Creighton. The Musketeers lost the game, 67-57.

• The Musketeers last win over a top-25 team was on Nov. 26, 2009 over No. 18 Kansas, 76-71, at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier defeated city rival Cincinnati, 53-50, in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Sunday, Dec. 10. Kindell Fincher led the Musketeers with 13 points, including eight points in the final quarter. Xavier never trailed in the game.

BYRD'S BREAKOUT SEASON

• Jada Byrd leads the team in field-goal percentage (.578) - the second best mark in the BIG EAST - while ranking second in scoring (12.2). The senior guard entered the year averaging 2.1 points per game over her first three seasons.

• Jada Byrd has averaged 14 points per game over her last two outings. She has posted a .706 field-goal percentage (12-for-17) in those games.

NOTABLES

• Freshman Princess Stewart averaged a team-best 11 points per game last week, while knocking down 58.8 percent (10-for-17) of her shot attempts. The guard scored a season-high 12 points against Cincinnati and dished out a game-high five assists.

• A'riana Gray has averaged 6.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. Gray's 7.3 rebounds per game leads all BIG EAST freshmen, while ranking fourth overall. She posted her first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) at Minnesota on Nov. 22.

• Imani Parlow leads the team in scoring (12.3) and rebounding (8.3). The redshirt-junior has hit 47.8 percent of her shot attempts this season.

• Xavier ranks second nationally in fewest fouls committed. The Musketeers have only committed 104 fouls this season.

• Xavier ranks second in the BIG EAST in field-goal percentage defense (.372) and fourth in scoring defense (59.6).

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.

• 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 three 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.

• Freshman Aaliyah Dunham ranks third in the BIG EAST in three-point field-goal percentage as she has hit 47.6 percent (10-for-21) of her shot attempts from behind the arc.

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.

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 32 non-conference games over the last four seasons with a 27-4 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).

• 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 Friday, Dec. 22 against Florida A&M. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.

Schedule

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