Friday In #BIGEASTwbb
RV/RV Villanova began the post-Maddy Siegrist era with an emphatic win at reigning West Coast Conference Tournament champion Portland on Friday night. The Wildcats were the final BIG EAST women’s basketball team to begin their 2023-24 season, scoring a 64-42 victory over the Pilots. No. 22/23 Creighton and Providence improved to 2-0 on the year as the Bluejays toppled South Dakota 81-55, while the Friars held off Vermont 57-47. Seton Hall and St. John’s suffered their first setbacks of the season to move to 1-1, with the Pirates falling at reigning Ivy League regular-season champion Columbia 72-61 and the Red Storm dropping a 74-69 decision at Monmouth, which won the 2023 CAA Tournament.
Monmouth 74, St. John's 69 | Columbia 72, Seton Hall 61 | Providence 57, Vermont 47
RV/RV Villanova 64, Portland 42 | 22/23 Creighton 81, South Dakota 55
 
Nightly Notables
Creighton’s Morgan Maly matched her career best with a 30-point showing against South Dakota – the first 30-point performance in the BIG EAST this season. Maly added 10 boards for her first double-double of ’23-24. The Bluejays totaled 11 made threes on the afternoon, with Maly draining six of them. The BIG EAST’s top scorer after two games, Unique Drake kept her average high with a game-best 24 points for St. John’s. Drake is averaging 25.5 per game thus far. It was the Providence defense that shined once again as the Friars held their opponent under 50 points for the second straight game. Lucy Olsen was the spark for Villanova as the junior notched the sixth 20-point game of her career while adding five assists and four steals. The Wildcats led Portland wire-to-wire and by as many as 28 points.
 
Up Next
Just two games are on the schedule for Saturday but one includes the first opportunity to knock off a ranked opponent as -/RV Marquette hosts No. 23/RV Illinois at 3 p.m. ET. Xavier will play its home opener at 7 p.m. with the Musketeers welcoming James Madison to Cintas Center. Both games will stream on FloHoops. The Golden Eagles cruised by UT Martin on Monday 84-51, while Xavier fell at Youngstown State 55-41 on Wednesday in their respective openers.
 
This Week In #BIGEASTwbb
Saturday
23/RV Illinois at -/RV Marquette, 3 p.m. Stats FloHoops
James Madison at Xavier, 7 p.m. Stats FloHoops
Sunday
Bryant at Seton Hall, 1 p.m. Stats FloHoops
Brown at Georgetown, 2 p.m. Stats FloHoops
2/2 UConn at RV/RV NC State, 3 p.m. ABC Stats 
DePaul at 17/15 Louisville, 4 p.m. ACC Network Stats 
RV/RV Villanova at Oregon State, 4 p.m. Stats Pac-12 Networks
Detroit Mercy at Butler, 5 p.m. Stats FloSports
All Times Eastern