Musketeers Travel to Creighton for Friday Night Matchup

Friday, February 16

Omaha, Neb.

8 p.m.

Xavier University

Creighton

Musketeers Travel to Creighton for Friday Night Matchup

02.13.18 | Women's Basketball

Live Stats Watch Live XU Notes (PDF)

Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. ET on the BIG EAST Digital Network

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's basketball returns to action on Friday, Feb. 16 at Creighton. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. ET with the game being aired on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

The Musketeers are 9-17 (2-13 BIG EAST) on the year, while the Bluejays enter the game with a 15-9 (9-5 BIG EAST) record.

THE MATCHUP AT CREIGHTON

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (9-17, 2-13) at CREIGHTON BLUEJAYS (15-9, 9-5)
Game Info - Friday, Feb. 16 - 8 p.m. ET - D.J. Sokol Arena (2,500)
Live video (BEDN) - bit.ly/2HcfJXB
Live stats - bit.ly/2F3bnBe

ABOUT CREIGHTON

2017-18 Record: 15-9 (9-5)
2017 Postseason: NCAA - Second Round
Series History: Xavier trails, 7-3

NOTABLES
• The Blue Jays are coming off an 87-84 double-overtime win at Providence on Feb. 10, the team's sixth overtime game of the season. Creighton is 5-1 in overtime games this season and is 8-3 in home games.
• Creighton leads the conference in free-throw percentage (.765), while ranking third in scoring offense (71.2) and second in three-point field-goal percentage (.374) and assists (17.4).
• Nationally, Creighton ranks 11th in fewest turnovers (294), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.42) and 20th in three pointers made per game (8.9).

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier trails the all-time series with Creighton, 7-2. The Musketeers are 0-4 when playing in Omaha.

• Xavier has dropped three straight in the series. The Musketeers last win in the series was on Feb. 7, 2016 at Cintas Center. Xavier won the game, 57-55.

LAST TIME OUT VS CREIGHTON

• Xavier dropped the first meeting between the two schools, 71-64, in overtime on Jan. 22. Anniina Äijänen led the Musketeers in scoring with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

• Jada Byrd added 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting with four assists and two steals. Na'Teshia Owens finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

• Junior Imani Partlow added six points and seven rebounds. Classmate Kindell Fincher matched her career high in rebounding with seven rebounds.

• Creighton won the battle on the glass, 39-32. Xavier held a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint and a 13-6 advantage in points off of turnovers.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier is coming off a 73-72 loss to DePaul on Sunday afternoon. The Musketeers led for nearly 30 minutes before the Blue Demons escaped with the victory.

• Xavier posted a season-high .600 field-goal percentage (27-for-45), the team's highest field-goal percentage since hitting 62.7 percent (32-for-51) of its shot attempts versus Richmond on Feb. 15, 2012.

• Anniina Äijänen scored a game-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, one point away from matching her career high. She added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

• Princess Stewart scored a career-high 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, while matching her career high in rebounding (5). The freshman guard added two assists, one steal and one block.

• Na'Teshia Owens finished with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting to go along with three rebounds and two steals. The sophomore guard also dished out a career-high six assists.

• Xavier hit 12 three-pointers against DePaul, the team's seventh game of the year with 10 or more threes. The Musketeers now have 192 three pointers on the year, 31 more than all of last season. The 192 three pointers rank 8th in single-season school history with three regular-season games left on the schedule.

BREAKOUT SENIOR SEASONS

• Jada Byrd leads the team in scoring (9.7). The senior guard entered the year averaging 2.1 points per game over her first three seasons. She also ranks fifth in the conference in field-goal percentage (.492).

• Anniina Äijänen ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.7 points per game. The senior forward entered the year averaging 3.0 points per game over her first three seasons. She also ranks ninth in the conference in field-goal percentage (.472).

BIG EAST PLAY

• Imani Partlow ranks second on the team in scoring during BIG EAST action, averaging 9.1 points per game. She has added a .505 field-goal percentage – the fifth best percentage in the conference – and 5.6 rebounds per game.

• Anniina Äijänen has added 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game during conference action. Her .500 field-goal percentage ranks sixth in the BIG EAST.

• Na'Teshia Owens ranks second in the conference in three-point field-goal percentage (.464), going 13-for-28 from behind the arc.

NOTABLES

• Jada Byrd has averaged 13.2 points per game in her last five outings. The senior guard has posted a .714 field-goal percentage (25-for-35) with 10 assists and six rebounds. She is also 15-for-21 from the foul line during that stretch.

• Anniina Äijänen posted a .611 field-goal percentage (11-for-18) in two games last week. The senior forward added 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She also had three assists, three blocks and three steals.

• Xavier has had nine different leading scorers through 26 games this season. Jada Byrd has led the team in scoring eight times.

• A'riana Gray has averaged 5.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game this season. Gray's 5.3 rebounds per game leads all BIG EAST freshmen, while ranking 15th overall. She posted her first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) at Minnesota on Nov. 22.

• Xavier ranks 18th nationally in fewest fouls committed per game (14.1). The Musketeers also rank 47th in total three pointers made (192).

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 and is 1-1 in overtime games this season.

XU FROM THREE POINT RANGE

• Xavier has made 10 three pointers in a game seven 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 7.4 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 192 three pointers this season, 31 more than all of last season (161).

• Aaliyah Dunham leads the BIG EAST in three-point field-goal percentage (.439), going 29-for-66 from behind the arc. Na'Teshia Owens ranks tied for second in the category (.424).

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 57.3 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 was 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 opened 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 traveled 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.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action at Providence on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be aired on the BIG EAST Digital Network.