Halfway Home
BIG EAST women’s basketball play has reached the halfway point after an exciting weekend of play. League-leader DePaul (8-1) stretched its winning streak to four games heading into the turn following a win over Providence (0-9) on Sunday afternoon. The Blue Demons will be tested next weekend against a pair of teams immediately behind them in the standings as they welcome third-place Seton Hall (6-3) and second-place St. John’s (7-2) in the Friday-Sunday series. Villanova (6-3) fell into a third-place tie with the Pirates following Sunday’s setback to Georgetown (3-6) which owns the No. 8 spot. The Hall dealt Butler a loss as the Bulldogs fell to ninth at 2-7. St. John’s prevented a four-way tie in second place by topping Xavier on Sunday, which moved to fifth place at 5-4. Marquette held on to beat Creighton as the two became knotted in sixth at 4-5. In addition to DePaul’s four-game streak, St. John’s (two), Seton Hall (three) and Marquette (three) all enter the second round of conference games with multiple-game winning streaks.
Sunday Stars
Dionna White led Georgetown to the upset win over RV/RV Villanova on Sunday afternoon, notching her first collegiate double-double with game highs of 20 points and 11 boards. White scored six fourth-quarter points to help ward off the Wildcats’ late charge, which was led by Megan Quinn’s 11 points and seven rebounds. Jade Walker also went for 20-and-11 to lead -/RV St. John’s to the win over visiting Xavier. Walker’s inside presence on the defensive end helped keep the Musketeers away from the rim as the Red Storm won the rebounding battle 47-26 and held XU to five second-chance points. Briana Glover scored eight points while eclipsing the 1,000-career-point mark for Xavier. Five Blue Demons scored in double figures in No. 24/21 DePaul’s win over Providence, with Megan Podkowa scoring 16 points in just 16 minutes of action. Maddie Jolin had 12 points and seven boards for the Friars. Tabatha Richardson-Smith’s hot streak continued for -/RV Seton Hall as she eclipsed 20 points for the fifth straight game with her game-high 26 markers. The senior added 11 rebounds and five dimes in the Pirates’ win over Butler, which saw four players in double figures, including 20 by Sydney Buck. Marquette’s Allazia Blockton stuffed the stat sheet in the Golden Eagles’ third straight win, totaling 21 points, seven rebounds, five steals and five dishes. Blockton scored MU’s final six points, all from the charity stripe, to fend off Creighton, which was led by MC McGrory’s 18 points in the back-and-forth battle in Milwaukee.
Weekly Results
Friday
-/RV Seton Hall 82, Xavier 66
-/RV St. John’s 68, Butler 41
24/21 DePaul 81, Creighton 63
Marquette 105, Providence 75
Sunday
Georgetown 57, RV/RV Villanova 51
-/RV St. John’s 57, Xavier 41
24/21 DePaul 96, Providence 50
-/RV Seton Hall 98, Butler 77
Marquette 79, Creighton 72