March 3, 2013

A-10 WBB NOTEBOOK | STANDINGS | STATISTICS

WHAT'S ON TAP
(*denotes A-10 Conference game)

SUNDAY, MARCH 3
*La Salle at St. Bonaventure | 1:00PM
*Rhode Island at VCU | CBSSN/2:00PM
*Saint Joseph’s at Dayton | ESPN2/2:00PM
*Fordham at Temple | 2:00PM
*Butler at Duquesne | 2:00PM
*Charlotte at Richmond| 2:00PM
*Saint Louis at George Washington| 2:00PM

RECENT RESULTS
SATURDAY, MARCH 2

*Xavier 67, Massachusetts 54

A-10’s FINAL WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTED BY TWO NATIONAL TV GAMES

Sunday will feature a pair of nationally televised matchups between A-10 teams.  CBS Sports Network will carry Rhode Island at VCU, while ESPN2 will feature Saint Joseph’s at Dayton.  Both games are scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.

Sunday’s games are part of twenty-six national television appearances showcasing all 16 member institutions during the 2013 Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball schedule.

In total, ESPN Networks will feature three women’s games; two regular season contests and the 2013 A-10 Championship game live from the new state-of-the-art Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on March 16. ESPN will air the league’s championship finale for the 16th-straight year. CBS Sports Network will televise an additional 10 games; eight during the regular season and the two semifinal outings at the A-10 Championship, March 10 on the campus of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa.

--With a win at URI on Wednesday,  Richmond is now 5-1 at the Ryan Center. Richmond’s four-game win-streak is a season-high. Rachael Bilney moved into 18th place on Richmond’s all-time list (1,048 career points).

- Seniors Vanessa Abel, Ahjah Hall, Jocelyn Floyd and Carly Vendemia became the all-time winningest class in Duquesne women’s basketball history after defeating La Salle 54-46 at Tom

Gola Arena on Wednesday night. With the victory the Dukes improve to 21-6 overall and 10-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The 10 wins ties the most conference wins for DU since they joined

the league in the 1983-84 season.

- Fordham used a stellar first half to push past St. Bonaventure (9-19, 2-11 A-10) in the Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday night. The Rams’ 62-50 win gave Fordham (21-7, 11-2 A-10) its 21st victory of the  season and put the team in position to lock up a first round bye in the Atlantic

10 Tournament with a win at Temple on Sunday.

-VCU’s Robyn Parks recorded back- to-back double-doubles last week, averaging 25.0 points, 15.5 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 2.5 assists per game. Parks posted first career 20-20 game

Wednesday at Richmond with game-highs of 29 points and 20 rebounds (career-high). Parks now leads the league in scoring, averaging 18.4 ppg.

-The Charlotte women’s basketball team picked up victory No. 600 in program history when it captured a school-record 12th in a row this season, handing VCU a 63-54 Senior Night setback Thursday evening inside Halton Arena. The 49ers, playing in their 38th campaign, needed

1,060 games to reach the 600th triumph for a 56.6 all-time win percentage.

The victory was also the 12th straight, surpassing a pair of 11-game runs from Jan. 11, 1979, to Feb. 7, 1979, and from Dec. 8, 1980, to Jan. 21, 1981. Charlotte  (23-4, 12-1 A-10), which locked up a first-round bye at the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament following Sunday’s triumph

at La Salle, accomplished Thursday’s win with conference player of the year candidate, senior Jennifer Hailey, having her double-double streak snapped at a dozen.

-#12/12 University of Dayton women’s basketball defeated Saint Louis 71-61 Thursday night at Chaifetz Arena to clinch at least a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title. The Flyers improved to 25-1 overall and 13-0 in the Atlantic 10 with just one conference game left to

play. The 25 wins ties a school record for victories in a season since UD became an

NCAA Division I school in 1985-86.

MARCH 2 GAME RECAP

 XAVIER 67, MASSACHUSETTS 54

AMHERST, Mass. - In its last regular season game of the season, the Xavier women's basketball team extended its winning streak to six games with a 67-54 win at Massachusetts Saturday afternoon. Senior Jessica Pachko led all scorers with a career-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals.

With the win, Xavier improves to 13-15 overall and 7-7 in Atlantic 10 action. Massachusetts falls to 3-26 on the season and 1-13 in league play.

Also for the Musketeers, junior Shatyra Hawkes adds 12 points and freshman Jenna Crittendon chips in 11. Three players tallied four assists on the afternoon and senior Amber Gray finished the game with seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Xavier was 23-of-60 from the floor (38.3%) and 19-of-23 from the line (82.6%) to Massachusetts' 34.9 field goal percentage (22-63) and 55.6 free throw shooting (5-9). The Minutewomen out-rebounded the Musketeers 42-39 and XU committed 11 turnovers to UM's 18 miscues.

XU was able to reclaim the lead two-and-a-half minutes into the second half after Hawkes sank both of her free throws to put X up, 30-29. A layup from junior Ashley Wanninger extended the Musketeer lead to five, 36-31, with just over 13 minutes to play. The Minutewomen continued to battle and drew even with the Musketeers, 38-38, at the 10:41 mark.

UMass briefly retook the lead, 40-39, and the game was tied five times in the second half as the Minutewomen continued to battle. Gray threw up a desperation three with 2:18 showing as the shot clock was set to expire and was able to find the bottom of the net. Pachko followed with a made free throw to give the Musketeers their largest lead of the game at seven, 61-54. XU held on for the 67-54 win.

Massachusetts jumped out to the quick 9-3 lead but Xavier used a 6-0 run to knot the game at nine apiece eight minutes into the game. The UM lead was eight after back-to-back 3-point baskets from Emily Mital and a Kiara Bomben jumper to set the score at 17-9 in favor of the Minutewomen. With just under two minutes remaining, UMass held the seven-point, 27-20 lead. Xavier scored the last four points of the half to head into the locker room down by three, 27-24.

Pachko led all scorers with 12 points at the break. The Musketeers shot 30 percent in the first frame to the Minutewomen's 31.3 percent and UM out-rebounded XU 25-18 over the first 20 minutes.

The Minutewomen were led by Jasmine Harris with 12 points and Rashida Timbilla with the game's only double-double of 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Musketeers will be participating in the Atlantic 10 Championship next weekend, March 8-10. The tournament is being hosted by Saint Joseph's University at SJU's Hagan Arena. Seedings and bracket will be announced later this evening.