Butler 58, Villanova 41
The Bulldogs limited the Wildcats to 22.4-percent shooting while seeing three players score in double figures to pick up a midday road win on Friday. Butler’s Kristen Spolyar scored a game-high 15 points, going 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Villanova (8-7, 3-2 BIG EAST) led by two after the first quarter, 14-12, but the Bulldogs opened the second on a 15-1 run and limited the Wildcats to just four second-quarter points as Butler (10-5, 2-2) held a 14-point halftime lead. VU got no closer than 10 the rest of the way, despite a BIG EAST-leading sixth double-double by Maddy Siegrist, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
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Xavier 85, Georgetown 64
The Musketeers picked up their first BIG EAST win under first-year head coach Melanie Moore with a victory on national television on Friday night. Xavier (2-13, 1-3 BIG EAST) had its finest shooting night of the season, making 50.9 percent of their attempts from the field and 13-of-20 (.650) from deep. Aaliyah Dunham scored a career-high 20 point off 7-of-11 shooting, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc while adding a game-high seven assists. A’riana Gray also reached the 20-point mark for XU, while Dunham added seven assists. The host Hoyas shot over 40 percent for the second straight game, knocking down 43.5 percent of their attempts. Nikola Kovacikova led Georgetown (4-12, 1-4) with 14 points and five boards.
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15/17 DePaul 85, Seton Hall 68
The 15
th-ranked Blue Demons remained alone in first place in the BIG EAST standings with their fifth consecutive win. Lexi Held led five DePaul players in double figures with a game-high 21 points along with a career-best six steals, while Kelly Campbell matched the game high with 10 rebounds along with 13 points for her third double-double of the year. DePaul (14-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) made 11 shots from beyond the arc, making double-digit threes for the 10
th time this season. Barbara Johnson led Seton Hall (10-6, 3-2) with her first career double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Blue Demons used a 10-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull away from the Pirates, who led throughout the first quarter and remained within double figures throughout the contest.
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Marquette 94, St. John’s 85
Behind a career-high 34 points from Selena Lott, Marquette (11-4, 2-2 BIG EAST) erased a 12-point third-quarter deficit to rally and defeat St. John’s (10-6, 3-2) on Friday night. Lott made 12-of-18 attempts from the field while adding seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. Both teams were hot from the field, with MU shooting .593 on the night to St. John’s .556 clip. The Red Storm made a season-high 66.7 percent of their shots from deep, with Qadashah Hoppie making a trio of threes towards her team-high 22 points. Marquette outscored the visiting Red Storm 25-13 over the final 10 minutes, holding St. John’s without a field goal for the final four minutes of the contest to rally for the win.
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Up Next
BIG EAST women’s basketball is featured on national television for a second straight day as -/RV Creighton hosts Providence at noon ET in a game airing on CBS Sports Network. The Bluejays-Friars tilt is the lone of the day before four more league contests are set to be played on Sunday, including St. John’s at 15/17 DePaul on FS1 at 1 p.m.
Up Next
Saturday
Providence at -/RV Creighton, Noon*+
Sunday
St. John’s at 15/17 DePaul, 1 p.m.*#
Xavier at Villanova, 1 p.m.*^
Butler at Georgetown, 2 p.m.*^
Seton Hall at Marquette, 3 p.m.*^
All times Eastern
*BIG EAST contest
^BEDN
#FS1
+CBSSN