March 21, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Tara Boothe scored 21 points and hauled in her 1000th career rebound in her final game in a Musketeer uniform but the Xavier University women's basketball team dropped a 59-47 decision at Villanova in WNIT Second Round action on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia.

With the win, XU concludes its season with a 21-9 overall mark while Villanova improves to 21-10 and moves on to play Western Kentucky in the WNIT Quarterfinal.

Boothe's 21 came on 8-of-17 shooting. She snared eight rebounds on the night to end her career with 1,004 boards.

Suntana Granderson joined Boothe in double-figures with 12 points and she tied a career high with eight rebounds.

Kristy Wallner snatched five rebounds and dished-out two assists in her final game as a Musketeer.

Michele Miller was just 1-of-9 from the floor but she was able to haul in 11 rebounds on the night.

Xavier trailed 29-23 at the half and Boothe shrunk the deficit to 29-26 when she converted on an old-fashioned three-point play at the 18:30 mark. However, Villanova seized control of the contest with a 12-2 run over the next 4:40 to take a commanding 41-28 lead with 13:20 to go.

XU would be unable to mount any sort of run the rest of the way as the Musketeers did not hit their first 3-pointer until Jerri Taylor drained a long-ball with 40-seconds remaining in regulation.

Xavier won the battle of the boards 41-33 and held a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass. Xavier was a frigid 1-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc while Villanova was a solid 7-of-20 from deep on the night.

Villanova built up a nine-point lead, 16-7, when the Wildcats capped a 13-3 run with 12:30 remaining in the first half. XU would settle down though and charged out to a 10-4 spurt of its own over the next 7:10.

Candyce Bingham keyed the run with four points and Boothe broke a three-minute XU scoring drought with an old fashioned 3-point play to spark the run.

Villanova would extend its lead back to eight points with one-minute remaining but Boothe drilled a turnaround jumper with 35 seconds to go and XU got a defensive stop on the ensuing possession to go into the locker room trailing 29-23.