#BIGEASTwbb Minute: Regular Season Concludes Sunday
WBB Notes - 2.29 update
It All Comes Down To This
After 85 conference games played, it will take for the final five to conclude on Sunday for the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by Jeep to be seeded. Regular-season champion and 16
th-ranked DePaul is the lone team with a set seed, being the No. 1 seed for the fourth time and first since 2017. The Blue Demons will be featured in Sunday’s nationally televised tilt against Marquette, set for 3 p.m. ET on FS2. The other four games of the day will stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi, beginning at 1 p.m. ET when Villanova visits Providence and Seton Hall hosts Butler. Georgetown at Creighton follows at 2 p.m. before Xavier at St. John’s wraps up the day at 4 p.m. All 10 teams qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament, set for March 6-9 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, with the top six seeds earning a bye into the quarterfinals. Providence, Georgetown and Xavier will all play in the First Round, with Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John’s or Villanova joining them on Day 1 as the No. 7 seed.
Why We’re Watching …
Villanova at Providence, 1 p.m. (
Caffeine |
YouTube): The Wildcats are part of the four-team group at 10-7 which can’t afford to slip up in Sunday’s finale in fear of potentially being the No. 7 seed and tacking on one more game in their journey towards winning the BIG EAST Tournament. Villanova is the lone 10-7 team that could win and still be the No. 7 seed, in the event that the Wildcats find themselves in a five-way tie at 11-7 with Butler, Creighton, St. John’s and Seton Hall. A win doesn’t guarantee a bye and loss doesn’t guarantee a seven-seed for the Wildcats – a lot depends on what everyone else does. Providence is in good shape to be the No. 8 seed and play the No. 9 seed which would be either Xavier or Georgetown. Villanova rookie standout Maddy Siegrist has at least one more BIG EAST Freshman record within reach after breaking the standard for field goals attempted (274) in a quiet game on Friday at Creighton. Though she might come up shy of Marquette’s Allazia Blockton’s rookie scoring total of 337 (Siegrist is 45 points short), she can break Connecticut’s Maya Moore’s record for field goals made (123) with 10 more made buckets. She already tied the record for most BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors with 10, matching Moore and Georgetown’s Natalie Butler (2013-14).
Butler at Seton Hall, 1 p.m. (
Caffeine |
YouTube): The Bulldogs enter the day in third place but could find themselves anywhere between the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds when all is said and done. The Pirates are still in danger of playing in the BIG EAST First Round with a loss to Butler, but will look to channel some of the magic they had when these two teams met on Dec. 29 of this season. Seton Hall erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and outscored Butler 24-8 in the frame to steal a 67-62 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Despite 28 points from Kristen Spolyar, the Bulldogs fell in overtime at St. John’s on Friday night, allowing Seton Hall and three others to get within a game in the standings.
Georgetown at Creighton, 2 p.m. (
Caffeine |
YouTube): Though Georgetown is guaranteed to play in the First Round, it’s now on to avoiding the No. 7 seed in a 7/10 matchup and a win over the Bluejays could give them the advantage they need to do so. For Creighton, it wants to avoid a loss which could hurt their NCAA resume as the Bluejays are currently No. 42 in the RPI and eying a national postseason berth. Creighton also wants to avoid playing on the first day of the conference tourney and move directly into the quarterfinals with a win on Sunday locking that up. Individually, Creighton senior Jaylyn Agnew will look to accomplish two things – winning the BIG EAST scoring title and setting the BIG EAST record for single-season free-throw percentage. Agnew is averaging 21.5 points in conference play to lead Butler’s Kristen Spolyar, who is in second place at 18.7. Agnew is 38-of-38 from the charity stripe in BIG EAST games this year, looking to snap records set by UConn’s Mel Thomas (2006-07) and Amy Duran (1997-98), who finished 26-of-27 (.963) in their respective seasons.
16/15 DePaul at Marquette, 3 p.m. (FS2): Though the Blue Demons have already locked up the No. 1 seed and regular-season title, they’re now looking to match their best finish in BIG EAST play while adding another top-50 win to their postseason resume. DePaul has finished 16-2 in league action twice before – 2016-17 and 2015-16 – and currently have four wins over teams in the top 50 of the NCAA RPI, including Marquette. For the Golden Eagles, a win over their rival would lock up the No. 2 seed and pair them with the winner of the 7-10 first-round game. Marquette can fall no lower than No. 3, which requires an MU loss and specific outcomes for Butler, St. John’s, Creighton and Villanova. Being only the No. 2 or 3 seed means a Marquette-DePaul rematch in the tourney would only happen in the title game. The Golden Eagles also eye their first top-25 win of the season which would further pad their postseason resume.
Xavier at St. John’s, 4 p.m. (
Caffeine |
YouTube): The Red Storm are part of that logjam in fourth place at 10-7, but the games that feature the other four teams that St. John’s could finish tied with will all be finished by the time the Johnnies and Musketeers tip off on Sunday – for better or for worse. Should Creighton, Seton Hall and Villanova all win, more pressure gets added to St. John’s to also win, as a loss would lock them into the seven seed in that scenario. The Red Storm would benefit the most from a possible five-way tie including those squads and Butler, as St. John’s would have swept three of the four teams to clinch the three-seed in that scenario. Xavier is already at least one game back of Providence so the Musketeers will look to win regardless of other outcomes. XU is locked with Georgetown right now and split the regular-season series, so a win over St. John’s could keep the Musketeers out of the 7-10 game.
Up Next
Sunday, Mar. 1
Villanova at Providence, 1 p.m.*^
Butler at Seton Hall, 1 p.m.*^
Georgetown at Creighton, 2 p.m.*^
16/15 DePaul at Marquette, 3 p.m.*#
Xavier at St. John’s, 4 p.m.*^
*BIG EAST contest
^BEDN
All times Eastern
#FS2