#BIGEASTwbb Minute: First Half of League Play Ends With Exclamation Point
No. 10/9 Marquette remains perfect, RV/RV DePaul moves into second-place tie, Samuels powers Seton Hall and Gedaka is near flawless for Villanova.
Seton Hall 76, Georgetown 63
The Pirates jumped over .500 in BIG EAST play to close out the first half of conference action thanks to another monster game by Shadeen Samuels. Samuels recorded her seventh 20-point game of the season with a game-high 28 off 9-of-15 shooting, coming one rebound shy of a double-double. SHU built up a double-digit lead by halftime, but GU wouldn’t go away, trimming the Pirates’ advantage to six with under three minutes to play. The Hall responded with a 9-0 run to put the game away. Dorothy Adomako led Georgetown with 21 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
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RV/RV DePaul 73, Xavier 71 OT
Xavier took its first lead of the game midway through the fourth quarter and led by five with under three minutes left before the visiting Blue Demons closed regulation on a 7-2 run, punctuated by Kelly Campbell’s game-tying layup in the final minute. DePaul struck just six seconds into the extra period and never trailed, spoiling the Musketeers upset bid on Sunday afternoon. Campbell finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Mart’e Grays was one of two Blue Demons with a double-double, totaling 22 points and 10 rebounds. Princess Stewart charged Xavier with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Na’Teshia Owens scored a team-high 21 points.
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10/9 Marquette 87, -/RV Butler 58
The Golden Eagles became the first team since conference realignment to close out the first half of BIG EAST play undefeated, while also matching the longest league winning streak since 2013-14 when DePaul won nine straight midseason. In a meeting between the top two teams in the standings, MU never trailed and used a 30-point third quarter to pull away. BIG EAST leading scorer Natisha Hiedeman posted a game-high 21 points, leading the speedy Golden Eagles to 20 fast-break points on the afternoon. Kristen Spolyar had 13 points for the Bulldogs, who move into a second-place tie in the BIG EAST standings with the Blue Demons.
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Villanova 73, St. John’s 57
The Wildcats picked up a wire-to-wire win in Queens to wrap up the weekend road swing 2-0. Mary Gedaka put up yet another near flawless performance, shooting 10-of-11 from the field towards a game-high 23 points. VU shot 55 percent from the field and 57 percent from deep to earn its fourth BIG EAST win of the season. Tiana England led a trio of Red Storm players in double figures with a season-high 18 points off 7-of-9 shooting. The Red Storm shot 22-44 from inside the three-point line, but struggled from deep, while VU knocked down 12-of-21 from distance.
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Upcoming Schedule
Friday - Feb. 1
Creighton at Georgetown, 7 p.m.*#
-/RV Butler at St. John’s, 7 p.m.*#
Xavier at Seton Hall, 7 p.m.*#
Providence at Villanova, 7 p.m.*#
Sunday - Feb. 3
Butler at Seton Hall, 1 p.m.*#
Creighton at Villanova, 2 p.m.*^
10/9 Marquette at RV/RV DePaul, 2 p.m.*#
Providence at Georgetown, 2 p.m.*#
Xavier at St. John’s, 2 p.m.*#
^FS1 +FS2 #BEDN *BIG EAST contest
All times Eastern