CINCINNATI, Ohio – Junior forward Tara Boothe led three Musketeers in double-figures and sophomore Suntana Granderson hit a back-breaking 3-pointer to lead the Xavier University women’s basketball team to a 65-55 come-from-behind victory over Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon in front of 1,423 fans at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.

With the win XU improves to 16-7 on the year and wins its eighth consecutive home game. XU also moved into first place by itself in the A-10 West and is now 10-2 in league play. UMass slips to 13-10 overall, 6-6 in the loop.

Boothe also snared seven rebounds to go along with her game-high 21 points. Miranda Green was solid, scoring 15 points and dishing out six assists while turning the ball over only twice.

Michele Miller came up huge down the stretch and scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Miller also pulled down six boards. Senior Adeola Olanrewaju was a force down low snatching 13 rebounds and scoring seven points on the afternoon.

After battling back-and-forth with UMass for most of the second half, XU found itself up by a point, 56-55 with under three minutes to go in regulation. The Musketeers forced the Minutewomen into a bad shot, Miller corralled the rebound and sprinted down the floor.

Miller penetrated into the lane and kicked it out to a wide open Granderson beyond the arc who proceeded to drain a three-ball, giving XU a 59-55 lead with 1:40 left in the game. Prior to that, Granderson was 0-for-7 from the field and had missed her four attempts from long range.

Granderson’s 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 Musketeer run to end the game as XU made all six of its free throws in the game’s final 40-seconds.

After building a 29-21 halftime lead, XU scored the first bucket of the second half to take a 31-21 lead 30-seconds into the session. However, UMass charged out to a 12-2 run and knotted the score up at 33-all at the 16:50 mark.

From that point, the game featured six ties and the lead changed hands a remarkable 10 times and UMass held a 51-49 lead with 4:40 to go in regulation thanks to a Kate Mills jump hook.

Miller then scored XU’s next four points, first on a pull-up jumper at 4:30 and then on a gritty put back at 3:50 to give XU a 53-51 lead.

After Mills tied the score for the final time, Boothe converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to give XU a 56-53 lead at the 3:10 mark. Patrycja Gulak brought the Minutewomen to within one point but that was close as UMass would get.

XU held a 40-31 advantage on the boards including a 15-to-7 edge on the offensive glass.

The Minutewomen came out strong in the first half and played XU even for the fist 5:50 of the contest. However, the Musketeers began to pull away and sprinted out to a 6-0 spurt to take a 25-17 lead with 2:50 to go in the first half on a Boothe lay up.

XU would ride the momentum of its 6-0 run to a 29-21 halftime lead.

XU is back in action on Friday, February 18 when the team travels to New York City to take on Fordham. Game time is set for 7:00 at Rose Hill Gym.