Jan. 29, 2006

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Junior guard Suntana Granderson scored a game-high 19 points and senior forward Tara Boothe scored 19 to lead the Xavier University women's basketball team to a 69-61 victory over Duquesne on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. With the win, XU improves to 14-6 on the year and 5-4 in the league. Duquesne slips to 8-12, 3-6.

Granderson broke out of a mini-shooting slump to hit on five of 10 3-pointers on the afternoon and Boothe posted her fifth double-double of the season as she added 10 rebounds. Boothe was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor in the second half.

Senior forward Kristy Wallner scored 13 points and was 3-of-3 from the field. Wallner scored in double-figures for the 15th time in her career.

Michele Miller was solid on the afternoon, scoring nine points and chasing down five boards and Miranda Green dished-out six assists.

The Musketeers trailed 25-24 at the break, marking the sixth time this season XU has been down at intermission. However, XU blitzed Duquesne with an 18-0 run to start the second half. Granderson set the tone when she drilled a 3-pointer just 10-seconds into the second half and followed that up another long ball 40-seconds later.

XU took its largest lead of game, 41-25, when Granderson hit yet another 3-pointer at the 15:10 mark. Duquesne's Nicole Sinclair broke up a 6:50 scoring drought when she converted on a jumper at 14:20.

The Dukes would not quit though and chipped away at the Xavier lead. DU closed to within five points, 64-59, when Kristi Little hit a 3-pointer with 40-seconds to go.

That was as close as Duquesne would get through as XU iced it from the free throw line down the stretch.

Xavier held a 30-to-31 rebounding advantage including a 27-to-23 edge on the defensive glass. XU was on fire in the second half, hitting on 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field including 6-of-11 from downtown.

Nicole Sinclair led the way for Duquesne with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Xavier stormed out of the gate and took an 8-2 lead on a Kristy Wallner free throw at the 16:40 mark. Miller scored five points in the game's first 1:50 to spark the Musketeers.

However, Miller would not score for the remainder of the half and XU went scoreless for a 5:10 stretch, allowing Duquesne to battled back and take a 13-12 lead at the 9:40 mark.

The rest of the half featured six more lead changes, concluding with the Dukes taking a 22-21 lead at the 2:20 mark. Duquesne would extend to a 25-23 lead at the break.

The Musketeers will be back in action on Friday, February 3 when the team welcomes George Washington to Cincinnati. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cintas Center.