Last Night In #BIGEASTwbb – 1.7.19
Providence, Xavier pick up first league wins, Butler improves to 4-0, Creighton moves into third-place tie.
Butler 66, St. John's 45
The Bulldogs’ historic start continued on Sunday as the defense shined in a 66-45 win over the visiting Red Storm. Butler held St. John’s to a season-low 45 points and forced the most Red Storm turnovers of the season at 22, which the Bulldogs converted into a decisive 30 points. Kristen Spolyar led all scorers with a season-high 23 points, while Michelle Weaver had a season-best seven steals. St. John’s was led by Qadashah Hoppie’s 14 points and three steals. Butler’s 14-1 start is its finest as a Division I program and the best for the program since 1981-82 when it also won 14 of its first 15.
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Xavier 63, Seton Hall 62 OT
Despite the close score, the game’s only two lead changes came in the final four seconds of overtime as Xavier managed to thwart off all of the Pirates’ attempts to pull off road win. The Musketeers limited SHU to nine first-quarter points, building up a double-digit lead in the second period before The Hall stormed back, outscoring XU 33-27 over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Tied with 93 seconds left in OT, neither team was able to score until less than 10 seconds remained as A’riana Gray broke the stalemate with a free-throw with seven ticks left. A pair of made freebies by Shadeen Samuels gave SHU its first lead of the game with four seconds left, but Na’Teshia Owens scored the go-ahead bucket with one second remaining to give Xavier the win. Gray finished with 19 points and 22 rebounds, three off the BIG EAST single-game record, while Samuels posted 24 points and 10 boards.
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Creighton 65, Georgetown 38
BIG EAST leading scorer Audrey Faber dropped 24 points to lead Creighton over visiting Georgetown as the Bluejays halted a two-game skid and moved into a third-place tie in the BIG EAST standings. Creighton led wire-to-wire despite runs by the Hoyas. Georgetown committed just nine turnovers but struggled from the field, making just 28 percent from the floor. Dionna White finished with 15 points. Creighton’s Jaylyn Agnew joined Faber in double figures with 13 points and five dishes.
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Providence 67, Villanova 61
Tied at 44-44 after three quarters, the Friars used their biggest frame of the game to pull away from the visiting Wildcats and pick up their first BIG EAST victory of the season. PC posted 23 points over the final 10 minutes as Jovana Nogic scored eight of her game-high 23 in the quarter. Tied at 56-56 with 3:09 remaining, Providence went on an 11-2 spurt to build up its largest lead of the game, 67-58, with 11 seconds remaining. VU made a three with two seconds left to trim the final margin. Adrianna Hahn finished with a team-best 19 points to lead the Wildcats, while Maddie Jolin added 18 for the Friars.
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Upcoming Schedule
Friday - Jan. 11
Providence at St. John’s, 11 a.m.*#
Creighton at Seton Hall, 11 a.m.*#
20/16 Marquette at Villanova, 11:30 a.m.*#
Butler at Xavier, 7 p.m.*#
24/24 DePaul at Georgetown, 7 p.m.*#
Sunday - Jan. 6
Providence at Seton Hall, 1 p.m.*+
24/24 DePaul at Villanova, 1 p.m.*#
20/16 Marquette at Georgetown, 2 p.m.*#
Creighton at St. John’s, 2 p.m.*#
^FS1 #BEDN +FS2 %CBS Sports Network
*BIG EAST contest
All times Eastern