By Abbey Gotham
CINCINNATI, OH — The Musketeers didn’t take long to pull ahead of the UMass Minutewomen in Sunday’s A10 matchup in Cincinnati.
Upon winning the tip, red shirt Junior Jessica Pachko made a layup underneath, but UMass junior Shakia Robinson answered with a layup as well. Red shirt Senior Sabrina Johnson made her first layup on the next possession over tough defense, while Robinson scored again for UMass.
From there, sophomore Wanninger got into her rhythm. In interviews, she often comments that she wants to get more confidence back in her shot, but she showed no signs of lacking in this area. She pulled up for a quick three, while Sabrina Johnson made a quick steal in the next position and was able to capitalize on a layup. Wanninger then made another three pointer before UMass junior center Jasmine Watson was able to get a layup cutting into Xavier’s lead at 12-6.
Red shirt freshman Lakeisha Crouch then came into the game for the Musketeers and immediately her defensive presence was felt. Her great anticipation of the ball and tenacious defense allowed for multiple rebound and transition opportunities. On one of her first possessions, she made a powerful drive to the basket, and sophomore Shatyra Hawkes followed on the next possession, beating the shot clock and putting Xavier up 16-6.
Wanninger followed with her third three on the next possession, and UMass freshman guard Emily Mital followed with a three on the other end. Wanninger followed up with her fourth and final three pointer of the half, putting the Musketeers up 22-9 and setting them on their way for the rest of the game.
Sabrina Johnson grabbed another rebound for the Musketeers on their next possession and got the putback. Watson was able to record another field goal, but Tyeasha Moss answered on the next two possessions, giving Xavier its largest lead at 17, 28-11. For the rest of the half, the Minutewomen were not able to come closer than within ten, and the score at half was 43-29.
The Musketeers led the scoring in the first half, but it was the Minutewomen that came out strong.
Sabrina Johnson and Tyeasha Moss opened the half each recording a layup, before UMass went on a 16-9 run. Throughout this run, Watson capitalized on two layups and a three point play. Red shirt senior Megan Zullo picked Xavier guards on two straight possessions but was only able to finish once in transition.
Around the ten minute mark, the Minutemen were able to shave quite a bit off the lead and eventually got as close as 4 when Watson made a turn around jumper. She had nine points in the last ten minutes of play. Shatyra Hawkes was perfect in her two opportunities at the free throw line in the last minute of play. The final score of the game was 70-61 and Xavier improves to 5-9 in the Atlantic 10 and 8-19 overall. The Minutemen fell to 3-11 in conference play and 8-21 for the season. Both teams are anticipating the A10 tournament starting March 2nd.
It was senior night at the Cintas Center and Tyeasha Moss and Sabrina Johnson were honored. Their impact on the team will definitely be missed, especially Moss who recently joined the elite in Xavier’s history having scored over 1,000 points.
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