Jan. 17, 2007

Box Score

CINCINNATI - Freshman standout Amber Harris poured in a career-high 32 points and Suntana Granderson and Michele Miller combined for 37 more to lead the Xavier University women's basketball team over Cincinnati, 89-76, on Wednesday evening in the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout in sold-out Fifth Third Arena. With the win, XU improves to 14-5 on the season while UC falls to 11-6.

Xavier finishes the 2006-07 season with a 12-4 non-conference record including a 5-3 record against schools from the power conferences.

XU, which lost at Charlotte by two points on Sunday, improves to 21-1 following a loss since the 2004-05 season.

Harris' 32 mark the most ever by a Xavier freshman and came on 11-of-20 shooting including 3-of-5 from deep. The Indianapolis native was also 7-for-8 from the free throw line and swatted five shots.

The win was Xavier's third straight in the Crosstown Shootout.

Granderson's 23 came on 9-of-17 shooting and she scored eight consecutive points for XU during the team's second-half comeback. Miller's 14 came on 5-of-7 shooting and she was also one rebound shy of a double-double.

Senior forward Joei Clyburn chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

The announced sellout of 13,176 was the largest crowd to ever see a women's basketball game in Cincinnati.

XU trailed 47-40 with 17:50 to go after Treasure Humphries scored two of her team-high 20 points but XU answered the bell with a 10-2 run over the next 2:20 to seize its first lead of the game, 50-49, at the 15:30 mark. Harris and Granderson combined to score all 10 points during the spurt.

The two teams battled back-and-forth to the tune of one tie and eight lead changes over the next 8:20 but the Musketeers put the game away with a blitz that was sparked by a Jerri Taylor jumper a the 9:40 mark. That jumper knotted the game up at 62 and marked the first two points of a decisive 12-0 run over the next 3:20.

Granderson capped the run with eight points in one minute, giving XU a 72-62 lead it would not relinquish at 6:20.

UC pulled to within five points, 80-75 at the 2:20 mark, but Miller answered with an old-fashioned 3-point play on the ensuing possession to effectively put the game away.

Xavier continued a solid stretch from the charity stripe as the team went 18-of-24 (75 percent) from the free throw line. The team shot 53.3 percent from the field including a scintillating 62.5 percent in the second half.

The Musketeers stumbled out of the gate and trailed 7-0 when Humphries converted on a lay-up just 1:50 into the contest. Xavier would cut the lead to four points, 16-12, on a Harris lay-up at the 14:10 mark.

However, UC would answer with a convincing 11-1 run over the next 4:10 to take a commanding 27-13 lead midway through the first stanza.

Xavier would begin to reel the Bearcats back in with a 7-2 run towards the end of the first session and trailed by eight points, 42-34, at the break.

The Musketeers will return to league play when they welcome George Washington to Cintas Center on Sunday, January 21. Game time is set for 2 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Xavier Musketeers Women's Basketball

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