Dec. 31, 2007
Recap |
Box Score
Tuesday's Game Notes
CINCINNATI - The Xavier University women's basketball team will square-off against Kentucky on New Year's Day in Lexington. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum and fans can listen to the action live on GOXAVIER.com. XU enters the showdown riding a three-game winning streak and is 8-4 overall. UK enters Tuesday's game with a 5-7 mark.
McGuff Gets 100
Sixth-year head coach Kevin McGuff's first five seasons at Xavier have been the most productive first five seasons any XU coach has enjoyed. McGuff is the first coach to lead Xavier to five consecutive postseason appearances in his/her first five years at XU and he reached 100 wins in fewer games (149) than any coach in Xavier history. McGuff's record at Xavier now stands at 114-54 and his .679 winning percentage is the highest in XU history.
McGuff Moves Up A-10 Charts
Sixth-year head coach Kevin McGuff is bolting up a couple of lists after leading XU to an 11-3 conference record last season. McGuff is in ninth place on the all-time Atlantic 10 winning percentage list (regular season games only). McGuff has a record of 54-24 in A-10 regular season games since the 2002-03 season for a winning percentage of .692. Joe McKeown (GW) and Dawn Staley (Temple) are the only other two active A-10 coaches with better winning percentages in regular season play (min. 30 wins). McGuff now sits in 15th place, after just four seasons, on the A-10 wins list (regular season games only) with 54.
Solid Debuts
Transfers Tudy Reed (Rutgers) and April Phillips (Georgia Tech) made their long-awaited Xavier debuts on December 28 at Akron. Neither Reed (junior) nor Phillips (sophomore) disappointed. Reed scored a career-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while Phillips scored seven points in a one-minute span against the Zips.
XU Snaps Streak vs. Ranked Teams
The Musketeers won at No. 24 North Carolina State on December 4, marking XU's first win vs. a ranked opponent since the team defeated No. 3 Tennessee in the Regional Semifinal of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers had lost their previous 10 meetings with ranked opponents and improved to 6-17 all-time vs. the ranked. The loss snapped NC State's 30-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.
Record-Setting Day vs. McNeese State
The Musketeers set several individual and team records in their 97-60 victory over McNeese State on November 24. Ta'Shia Phillips set a new single-game individual rebounding record by hauling in 20 boards and Jerri Taylor buried nine 3-point field goals to tie a single-game school record. As a team, XU connected on 17 3-point field goals to best the previous school record of 14. The 58 first-half points scored by XU marked the most first half points XU has ever scored. The 58 points was also the most scored in any half since Kevin McGuff took over as head coach prior to the 2002-03 season. XU also held a +36 rebounding margin to set a new school record.
Harris Comes up Big vs. Penn State
Amber Harris scored 30 points, snared 13 rebounds and blocked five shots in Xavier's 72-68 win over Penn State on November 15. 21 of her 30 came after halftime and the sophomore scored nine consecutive points over a two-minute stretch to put Xavier up by four points with under two-minutes remaining. Harris scored 15 points and swatted three shots as XU embarked on its decisive 26-7 run.
The Block Party (Part II)
The Musketeers finished the 2006-07 season fifth in the country at 6.3 blocks per game and Amber Harris was third in the nation with 4.0 blocks per game last season. It is more of the same in 2007-08 as Harris entered the week 10th in the country at 2.8 blocks per game and XU is tied for 22nd in the land with a blocked shots average of 5.2. Harris' 2.8 blocks per game lead the Atlantic 10.
2007-08 NCAA
Blocked shot Leaders
Name, School Cl. RPG.
1. Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan St. So. 5.3
2. Louella Tomlinson, St. Mary's Fr. 5.2
3. Brittany Pittman, Morehead So. 4.2
4. Tina Huff, Alcorn St. Sr. 3.8
5. Kaitlin Sowinski, Sacred Heart Jr. 3.6
6. Daniell Wilson, Baylor So. 3.4
7. Tiffany Gadsden, Norfolk St. So. 3.3
8. Danielle Campbell, Purdue Jr. 3.3
9. Chanel Johnson, Tulsa Jr. 3.2
10. Amber Harris, Xavier So. 2.8
The Series vs. Kentucky
Xavier is 4-1 all-time vs. Kentucky in a series that dates back to the 1999-00 season. XU lost the last meeting between the two squads, a 67-62 setback in Lexington during the 2005 WNIT Quarterfinal. XU is 2-1 all-time vs. the Wildcats in Lexington and 11-9 vs. teams currently playing in the Southeastern Conference. Tuesday's matchup will mark the first time Xavier has played on New Year's Day. Xavier is 4-1 vs. SEC teams since the 2005-06 season.
