Musketeers Return to BIG EAST Action at Seton Hall

Saturday, January 23

South Orange, N.J.

1 p.m.

Xavier University

Seton Hall

Musketeers Return to BIG EAST Action at Seton Hall

01.22.21 | Women's Basketball

Live Stats Watch Live ($)XU Notes (PDF)SHU Notes (PDF)

Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday at Walsh Gymnasium

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's basketball returns action on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Seton Hall. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. ET from Walsh Gymnasium with the game being aired on FloHoops/BEDN.

Saturday's contest is the first of three games in five days for the Musketeers.

THE MATCHUP AT SETON HALL

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (4-4, 1-3) at SETON HALL PIRATES (7-3, 5-2)
Game Info - Saturday, Jan. 23 - 1 p.m. ET - Walsh Gymnasium (1,655)
Live Video ($) - bit.ly/2NpEszb
Live Stats - bit.ly/2FWmhw4

ABOUT SETON HALL

2020-21 Record: 7-3 (5-2 BIG EAST)
2019-20 Record: 19-12 (11-7 BIG EAST)
Series History: Xavier trails, 12-3
Last Meeting: Seton Hall 69, Xavier 59 (South Orange, N.J. - Feb. 28, 2020)

NOTABLES
• Seton Hall is on a four-game winning streak, most recently defeating St. John's, 87-64, on Jan. 20 at Walsh Gymnasium. Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Desiree Elmore combined for 56 points. Espinoza-Hunter earned BIG EAST Player of Week honors for the first time this season following her performance last week.
• Andra Espinoza-Hunter is 24-for-39 from three-point range in her last four games. She leads four players in double figures, averaging 20.5 points per game.
• Seton Hall drained 15 three points (15-for-26) in its victory over Butler on Jan. 17, one away from the program record. The Pirates rank second in the BIG EAST in three pointers made per game (9.1) and three-point field-goal percentage (.355). Seton Hall also leads the conference in free-throw percentage (.765), while ranking third in scoring offense (80.8).

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier trails the all-time series, 12-3. The Musketeers are 2-2 in the last four meetings with the Pirates.

• Eight of the last 11 meetings have been decided by 10 or fewer points.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS SETON HALL
Feb. 28, 2020 - Seton Hall 69, Xavier 59 (South Orange, N.J.)
Dec. 31, 2019 - Seton Hall 83, Xavier 61 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Feb. 1, 2019 - Xavier 80, Seton Hall 76 (South Orange, N.J.)
Jan. 6, 2019 - Xavier 63, Seton Hall 62 (OT) (Cincinnati, Ohio)
March 3, 2018 - Seton Hall 66, Xavier 42 (Chicago, Ill.)

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier is coming off a 53-50 loss to Creighton on Jan. 3. The Musketeers played without three of their top four scorers (A'riana Gray, Nia Clark, Carrie Gross) due to contact tracing.

• Kae Satterfield finished the game with 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting. She added 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists.

• Morgan Sharps scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting with a pair of three pointers. Lauren Wasylson added a pair of three pointers to go along with four rebounds.

• Ayanna Townsend chipped in six points and four rebounds. The forward added two blocks, increasing her career total to 55 - ranking 10th in career blocks at Xavier.

• Aaliyah Dunham finished with four points, four assists, three rebounds and two assists. Courtney Prenger added four points, five rebounds and three assists.

• Xavier went 8-for-10 from the foul line. The Musketeers have now hit 28 of their last 32 free throws.

• Defensively, Xavier limited the Bluejays to a season-low three 3-pointers. Creighton entered the game averaging 9.1 three pointers per game, ranking 22nd in the NCAA.

NOTABLES

• Nia Clark leads the Musketeers in scoring with 15.2 points per game, ranking 11th in the conference. The freshman guard leadsthe BIG EAST in steals per game (3.0), while ranking tied for sixth in total steals (18). She ranks 23rd in the NCAA in steals per game.

• Kae Satterfield is averaging 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game this season with a .457 field-goal percentage (32-for-70). She ranks tied for ninth in the BIG EAST in rebounding.

• Xavier ranks second in the BIG EAST in steals (10.9) and third in blocks (5.0). The Musketeers rank 24th in the NCAA in steals, while ranking 31st in blocks.

• Lauren Wasylson leads the team in total blocks (11) and three pointers made (9). She has hit 54.5 percent (6-for-11) of her three pointers in BIG EAST action. The junior guard ranks tied for fourth in the conference in blocks this year after only have seven total blocks during the 2019-20 season.

• A'riana Gray is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, ranking tied for seventh in the BIG EAST. She also ranks 19th in scoring (12.7) and tied for seventh in steals (2.0).

• Aaliyah Dunham leads the BIG EAST in assist/turnover ratio, while ranking seventh in the NCAA. The senior guard also ranks tied for third in assists (4.1).

• Xavier pulled down 56 rebounds vs Wofford on Dec. 13, the most rebounds in a game by a BIG EAST team this season. The 56 rebounds are the most by the Musketeers since pulling down 64 (2nd in school history) on Nov. 25, 2015 vs Southeastern Louisiana (W, 67-27).

• Xavier had 22 steals at Detroit Mercy, the most steals in a game by a BIG EAST team this season. The Musketeers also forced 28 turnovers, the most in a game by Xavier since Nov. 7, 2018 vs Chicago State (26 turnovers). Nia Clark paced Xavier with 10 steals vs Detroit, the most by a BIG EAST player this season.

• Aaliyah Dunham matched her career high in assists with nine at Valparaiso on Dec. 16. The nine assists are the second most by a BIG EAST player this season.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

Jan. 4 - Kae Satterfield - Weekly Honor Roll
Dec. 28 - Nia Clark - Weekly Honor Roll
Dec. 14 - Kae Satterfield - Weekly Honor Roll
Nov. 30 - Nia Clark - Freshman of the Week

1,000 CAREER POINTS - ARI GRAY

• Senior forward A'riana Gray became the 25th member of the 1,000-point club at Xavier in the team's win over Wofford on Dec. 13. She currently has 1,058 career points. The last Xavier player to score 1,000 points in their career was Raeshaun Gaffney (1,074 points - 2014-17).

ARI GRAY CAREER WATCH

• Senior A'riana Gray has 792 career rebounds, raking seventh in career rebounding at Xavier. She is 61 rebounds away from moving into sixth place ahead of Taru Tuukkanen (852 - 1997-01). Her 8.7 rebounds per game career average ranks fourth in program history.

AALIYAH DUNHAM CAREER WATCH

• Senior Aaliyah Dunham has 347 career assists to rank ninth all-time at Xavier in assists. She is four assists away from moving into eighth place (351 - Judy Smith - 1980-84). Her 3.5 assists per game career average ranks 10th in program history.

AYANNA TOWNSEND CAREER WATCH

• Ayanna Townsend has 55 career blocks, ranking 10th all-time at Xavier with Briana Glover (2012-16). She is four blocks away from moving into ninth place with Jennifer Phillips (1998-02).

ABOUT THE MUSKETEERS

• Xavier returns nine letterwinners and all five starters from last season. The Musketeers have a three-person senior class, anchored by two-time All-BIG EAST selection A'riana Gray.

• Senior Aaliyah Dunham averaged 7.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game last year. She ranked fourth in the BIG EAST in assists (4.5), sixth in steals (1.9), sixth in three-point field-goal percentage (.388) and second in assist/turnover ratio (2.3). The guard ranked 25th in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio and 72nd in total assists (135). she also finished the season ranked ninth in career assists at Xavier (314).

• Sophomore Morgan Sharps averaged 6.1 points per game with 43 assists and 18 steals last season. She led the team in three pointers made (48), while ranking ninth in the BIG EAST. The guard ranked third among BIG EAST freshman in three pointers made.

• After suffering a season-ending injury seven games into her freshman season, Ayanna Townsend bounced back to play in all 30 games (21 starts) in year two with the program. She averaged 5.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and led the team in blocks with 32, while ranking sixth in the BIG EAST.

ARI GRAY - PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST

• Senior forward A'riana Gray was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team on Oct. 29 as voted on by conference head coaches. The Cleveland, Ohio, native earned the preseason honors for the second time in as many seasons. Gray averaged a team-high 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last year. She ranked first in the conference in rebounding and sixth in scoring. Gray also ranked 53rd in the NCAA in rebounding.

• She earned All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention Team honors at the end of the 2019-20 season, picking up the accolades for the second time in her career.

BIG EAST ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS

A'riana Gray - rebounds - 792 - 1st
A'riana Gray - double doubles - 27 - 1st
A'riana Gray - scoring - 1,058 - 2nd
A'riana Gray - steals - 141 - 2nd
A'riana Gray - blocks 47 - 7th

Aaliyah Dunham - assists - 347 - 1st
Aaliyah Dunham - steals - 125 - 3rd

Ayanna Townsend - blocks - 55 - 9th
Sarah Leyendecker - blocks - 46 - 10th

PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

Place	Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Connecticut (10)	100
2.	DePaul (1)	90
3.	Marquette	83
4.	St. John's	69
5.	Creighton	60
6.	Seton Hall	59
7.	Villanova	44
8.	Butler	37
9.	Xavier	31
10.	Providence	22
11.	Georgetown	10

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.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action on Monday, Jan. 25 vs DePaul. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center with the game being aired on the BEDN/FloHoops.