Xavier women's basketball 2024-25 thread

[drudy23]

I don't pay attention - have they won a game yet?

[X-band '01]

They have a few noncon wins, but they are nowhere near the quality needed to win in the Big East.

[GoMuskies]

Seems the season hit its hight point at halftime of that Eastern Michigan game. All downhill from there.

[Xville]

Looks like the men’s team is not the only one who wilted in the end this weekend. A 1 point lead going into the 4th and lost by 12. Ugh

[Xville]

Well, they grabbed their 5th win so that's nice. Not sure if they are going to win a game in conference as anyone with a pulse has beaten them pretty soundly, but as low as the bar got lowered last year, this season has at least been somewhat of an improvement.

[HomerCecil]

Well, they grabbed their 5th win so that's nice. Not sure if they are going to win a game in conference as anyone with a pulse has beaten them pretty soundly, but as low as the bar got lowered last year, this season has at least been somewhat of an improvement.

Agreed. And the Big East is not having a good year -- looks like only UConn and Creighton are going to be tournament teams -- so there may be more of a chance to pick up a win or two. They play at Georgetown (6-5) tonight.

[GoMuskies]

There's no double round-robin for the women? I am looking at the schedule, and it looks like we only play UConn once (thankfully!).

[drudy23]

I don't follow the X women's team at all. But the fact that they are this bad is just as concerning as to where the men's program is. They fell off of the face of the earth in the competitive women's landscape. How is that even possible that the fall was this far?

And how can no one seemed concerned about why and who's accountable. I'm not expecting Final Fours, but the expectations sure seem to be the opposite of lofty.

[HomerCecil]

Going back to his days at Bowling Green, if you look at the basketball coaches (other than Sean Miller) that GC has hired, men's or women's, they don't do well. Bowling Green had a tremendous women's program for part of his tenure, but that coach was there before GC was. As for the current state of the program, it's honestly no worse and maybe the best it's been in three years. Since joining the Big East in 2013, they have never not played on the first day of the BE tournament, and they only have one win in the Big East Tournament. Ever.

The Big East played a 20-game round robin until last season (2023-24). Xavier only got UConn once last year and again this year, so that seems intentional. My guess is UConn wasn't thrilled about playing a team with a NET ranking above 300 twice in conference last year to bomb their strength of schedule.

As for last night, Xavier was competitive through three quarters -- it was 41-37 at the end of the third quarter. Yet Georgetown ended up winning 64-41 thanks to a 23-4 fourth quarter.

DePaul is a mess and comes to Cintas on Thursday. That's another somewhat reasonable shot at a win.

[HomerCecil]

Well, after spotting DePaul an 18-4 lead yesterday, the women made a game of it, getting within 1 point in the fourth quarter, but fell 65-60. It's only the second time in three years they've lost a Big East game by less than 10 points, so it's a small sign of progress. I do think they'll win a game this year, but it's not guaranteed.

Meri Kanerva, the freshman PG from Finland, had 20 points. She's averaging 11 ppg on 44% shooting and 36% from three, and has a positive assist/turnover ratio, which is impressive given the way this team struggles to score. I think she should make the Big East all freshman team and looks like the best player the team has recruited in a decade or so. Something to build on unless she transfers out.

The win is unlikely to come in the next game, though: They're at UConn next Wednesday (as we already noted, at least they only play once this year).