Feb. 3, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

KINGSTON, R.I. - Sophomore forward Amber Harris led all scorers with 20 points and classmate April Phillips scored a career-high 16 to lead the Xavier University women's basketball team past Rhode Island by an 80-63 score on Sunday afternoon at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.  With the win, Xavier improves to 16-6 overall and 6-1 in Atlantic 10 play.  URI slips to 9-12, 2-4.   

Harris' 20 came on 7-of-16 shooting and she also notched her fourth straight double-double with 10 rebounds.  April Phillips was an automatic 6-of-6 from the field and she also snared six boards in only 16-minutes of action. 

Freshman center Ta'Shia Phillips scored 15 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double.  Junior guard Jerri Taylor was a solid 6-of-7 from the floor en route to scoring 14 points in only 21 minutes of action.  Sophomore forward Maureen Hester's all-around performance included seven points, five rebounds and four assists.  

The four double-figure scorers tied a season high.  

URI out-scored the Musketeers 18-7 over the first six-minutes of the second half to shave XU's 40-26 halftime lead to 47-38 after Safi Mojidi buried a 3-pointer with 14-minutes remaining in regulation.  

Xavier woke up though and charged out to a game-changing 14-0 run over the next 4:20 to take a commanding 61-38 lead with 9:40 to go.  XU made the run by shredding the Rams' press and turning the game into a lay-up drill and URI would not threaten again.    

XU held a 36-to-27 rebounding advantage and out-scored URI 42-24 in the paint.  The Musketeers forced Rhode Island into 14 turnovers and transformed those miscues into 21 points.  

The recent trend of quality free throw shooting continued for XU, as the Musketeers were 21-for-27 (77.8 percent) from the charity stripe. 

Xavier seized immediate control of the game by jumping out to a 9-2 lead just 2:10 into the contest.  XU used its full-court press to turn Rhode Island over seven times in the first seven minutes and extended the lead to 23-6 on the strength of a 12-0 run over a 5:30 stretch. 

Harris quelled a URI run by scoring seven-straight points late in the first half, allowing XU to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room.

The Musketeers are back in action on Saturday, February 9 when the team welcomes Temple to Cintas Center.  Game time is set for 6 p.m. and will feature a pair of teams tied atop the A-10 standings.