Xavier Plays Host to St. John's on Saturday

Saturday, January 11

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 p.m.

Xavier University

St. John's

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01.09.25 | Women's Basketball

Live Stats Watch Live XU Notes (PDF)

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

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier continues BIG EAST action on Saturday, Jan. 11 vs St. John's. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from Cintas Center.

GAME INFORMATION

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (5-10, 0-4) vs ST. JOHN'S RED STORM (10-5, 0-4)
Game Info - Saturday, Jan. 11 - 2 p.m. ET - Cintas Center (10,224)
Live Stats - bit.ly/42eOpDQ
Watch Live (FloCollege) - flosports.link/3zR1kxj

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S

2024-25 Record: 10-5 (0-4 BIG EAST)
2023-24 Record: 18-15 (11-7 BIG EAST)
2024 Postseason: WBIT Second Round
Series History: Xavier trails, 20-2
Last Meeting: St. John's 67, Xavier 55 (Queens, N.Y. - Jan. 31, 2024)

NOTABLES
• St. John's was picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior guard Ber'Nyah Mayo was named to the preseason all-conference team.
• The Red Storm have dropped four straight games after starting the year with a 10-1 record. St. John's is 5-2 in road games this season.
• Lashae Dwyer leads the team in scoring (15.3), steals (3.1) and assists (2.9), while ranking second in rebounding (4.5). Ber'Nyah Mayo has added 9.3 points per game, while Phoenix Gedeon has pulled down a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game.
• In BIG EAST only games, St. John's ranks eighth in scoring offense (56.3), 10th in scoring defense (68.0) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.359). The Red Storm also rank 11th in both field-goal percentage defense (.559) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (.417).

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier trails the all-time series with St. John's, 20-2. The Musketeers have dropped 18 straight in the series and are 2-8 vs the Red Storm at Cintas Center.

• Xavier's last win over St. John's was on March 1, 2015 at Cintas Center (W, 74-61).

• Tae'lor Purvis averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in the series vs the Red Storm last season. She added four assists and four steals. Aizhanique Mayo chipped in 8.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS ST. JOHN'S
Jan. 31, 2024 - St. John's 67, Xavier 55 (Queens, N.Y.)
Jan. 9, 2024 - St. Jonh's 60, Xavier 42 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Feb. 8, 2023 - St. John's 73, Xavier 52 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Jan. 8, 2023 - St. John's 71, Xavier 52 (Queens, N.Y.)
March 4, 2022 - St. John's 76, Xavier 69 (Uncasville, Conn.)

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier is coming off an 81-27 loss at No. 7 UConn on Wednesday at the XL Center.
Irune Orio scored a team-high 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. She added two rebounds and two steals.
Daniela López and Lucía Martínez López both added four points. Tae'lor Purvis and Petra Oborilova both pulled down a team-high four rebounds.
Loren Christie dished out a team-high three assists.

CHRISTIE BREAKOUT SEASON

Loren Christie entered the season with a career scoring average of 4.2 points per game and a career rebounding average of 3.9 rebounds per game. The forward also had a career field-goal percentage of .369 (166-for-450). She entered the season playing in 104 games over four seasons between two schools: Buffalo (2019-2022) and San Francisco (2022-23).
This season, Loren Christie has increased her scoring average by 5.6 points per game and her rebounding average by 1.7 rebounds per game. The forward has also posted a .475 field-goal percentage (57-for-120), an increase of 10.6 percent.
Loren Christie has 31 blocks through 15 games. She posted a career-best 35 blocks during the 2021-22 season at Buffalo.

NOTABLE

Through four BIG EAST games, Loren Christie leads the team in scoring (10.3), rebounding (5.5) and field-goal percentage (.447). Meri Kanerva has added 7.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.
Meri Kanerva averaged a team-high 11.0 points and 6.5 assists in two games last week. Loren Christie added 9.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game.
Meri Kanerva leads the team in scoring (10.7) and assists (3.2). The freshman guard has added 15 steals and a team-high 21 three pointers.
Loren Christie ranks first on the team in rebounding (5.6), while ranking second in scoring (9.8). The forward ranks first in the BIG EAST in blocks (2.1), while ranking 31st in the NCAA.
Loren Christie ranks 22nd in the NCAA in total blocks (31). Xavier has 45 blocks on the year, ranking sixth in the BIG EAST.
Tae'lor Purvis leads the team in field-goal percentage (.500) and total steals (31). The senior guard has added 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
The Musketeers rank fourth in the BIG EAST in turnovers forced per game (17.3). Tae'lor Purvis ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in steals (2.1), while ranking 152nd in the NCAA.
The Musketeers have posted 10 or more steals in six games this season. Xavier only had five games with 10 or more steals during the 2023-24 season.
Xavier ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in field-goal percentage defense (.409).
Xavier has made 10 or more three pointers in a game three times this season.
In BIG EAST only games, the Musketeers rank fourth in the conference in three pointers made per game (6.5) and fifth in three-point field-goal percentage (.317).
Xavier has scored a season-high 71 points twice this season. The Musketeers did not score 70 or more points during the 2023-24 season and only scored 70 or more points four times during the 2022-23 campaign.
Xavier scored 27 points in the opening quarter vs the RedHawks on Nov. 10, the most points in a quarter for the Musketeers since Nov. 13, 2022 vs Saint Francis (PA) at Cintas Center. The Musketeers scored 28 points in the third quarter vs the Red Flash (W, 78-52).
Xavier hit over 50 percent of its shot attempts in back-to-back games vs Miami (Ohio) and Mercyhurst - the first time the Musketeers have hit over 50 percent of their shot attempts in back-to-back games since Feb. 12, 2011 - Feb. 16, 2011 (Xavier hit 53.8 percent of its shot attempts in a 77-55 win vs Fordham on Feb. 12; Xavier hit 66.1 percent of its shot attempts in a 92-60 win at Saint Louis on Feb. 16).
The Musketeers scored 26 points off of turnovers vs Mercyhurst on Nov. 15. The last time Xavier scored 26 or more points off of turnovers was on Nov. 13, 2022 vs Saint Francis (PA) - scored 29 points off of turnovers in a 78-52 win at Cintas Center.
Xavier has dropped 45 straight BIG EAST games. The last time Xavier won a BIG EAST game was on Feb. 20, 2022 at Butler (W, 73-54).

SCHEDULE NOTES

Xavier will play two games on national television: Jan. 8 at UConn (SNY) and Feb. 8 at Seton Hall (FS1).
Xavier played six home non-conference games at Cintas Center, including four straight to open the 2024-25 season. The Musketeers will play a total of 15 home games during the season (including nine home BIG EAST games).
Xavier played teams from six different leagues during non-conference action: Mid-American (4), Horizon, Sun Belt, Big 12, Mountain West and Northeast. The Musketeers non-conference opponents combined to make three postseason appearances last season.
Xavier played three opponents for the first time in program history in Arkansas State, Mercyhurst and San Jose State.
Xavier played Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Temple and Youngstown State for the second time in as many seasons.
The Musketeers have won 65 non-conference games over the last eight seasons with a 52-17 mark at Cintas Center.

ABOUT THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier entered the season with 12 international players from the following countries: Spain (4), Finland, Australia, Slovakia, Croatia, Germany, Serbia, England, Republic of Georgia.
Xavier returns six letterwinners from the 2023-24 season, highlighted by Aizhanique Mayo who earned All-BIG EAST Freshman Team honors. The guard ranked second in conference only games among freshman in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game. The Musketeers also return graduate student Tae'lor Purvis who led the team in assists (69) and steals (43) a year ago. The guard ranked 12th in the BIG EAST in steals last season.
The Musketeers also welcome back sophomores Júlia Garcia Roig and Daniela López. The Spanish guards combined to average 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds during their freshmen campaigns, while adding 82 assists and 37 steals.
Second-year head coach Billi Chambers welcomes eight newcomers to the team this summer, including local standout MacKenzie Givens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton HS). Xavier also returns Loren Christie who brings a wealth of experience to the frontcourt, having played in 104 games during her college career - including a game in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. She missed the 2023-24 season due to injury.

XAVIER 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.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL

1. UConn – 100 (10 first-place votes)
2. Creighton – 91 (1)
3. Providence – 71
4. St. John's - 67
5. Georgetown – 66
6. Villanova – 56
7. Seton Hall – 51
8. Butler – 46
9. DePaul – 24
10. Marquette - 23
11. Xavier - 10

TICKET INFORMATION

Single-game tickets start as low as $10. Group tickets can be purchased for $3 (Groups of 15-24) and $2 (Groups of 25-99).
Fans can purchase season tickets for as low as $50 for 15 home games.
Xavier faculty and staff receive two complimentary tickets to all home games. Tickets can be claimed by showing your Xavier ID at the main ticket office window at the south entrance to Cintas Center.
For more information on season tickets, single-game tickets and group tickets - fans can contact the Xavier Athletics Ticket Office at (513) 745-3411 x7 or tickets@xavier.edu

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