Providence College Athletics
Providence College
Xavier
Women's Basketball Game Notes vs. Xavier
2/12/2022 5:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Friars and Musketeers will tip-off Sunday at Noon on FS1 as part of the league's annual All-Access game.
FRIARS AND MUSKETEERS SQUARE OFF IN ANNUAL FS1 ALL-ACCESS GAME... Providence will host Xavier on Sunday, Feb. 13 at Alumni Hall for a Noon tip on FS1. The match-up serves as FS1's annual All-Access game, and head coaches Jim Crowley (Providence) and Melanie Moore (Xavier) will be mic'd up for the entirety of the broadcast during game action, in the huddles and in the locker rooms at halftime and post game.
FRIARS LOOK TO SWEEP SEASON SERIES... Providence earned a 54-49 victory over Xavier on Jan. 11 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and will look to sweep the season series when the two teams meet on Sunday. Cincinnati-native Kylee Sheppard paced the Friars with 13 points in the first meeting and hit a pair of free throws with 22-seconds remaining in regulation to provide a 52-49 cushion on the scoreboard. Sheppard shot 4-8 from the floor, including a 3-5 effort from beyond the arc. She also contributed four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Alyssa Geary added 10 points, three rebounds and four blocked shots. Mackayla Scarlett led the Musketeers with a game-high 17 points. Nia Clark, Xavier's leading scorer this season (11.7 ppg), did not play in the first meeting.
PROVIDENCE VS. XAVIER ALL-TIME... The Friars and Musketeers have met 17 times during the history of the two women's basketball programs. Xavier leads the all-time series, 10-7.
FRIARS AND MUSKETEERS ALL-TIME AT ALUMNI HALL... Providence has posted a 4-3 record vs. Xavier at Alumni Hall during the all-time series, including victories in each of the last three games played at the facility.
LAST TIME PROVIDENCE AND XAVIER MET AT ALUMNI HALL... Providence and Xavier did not play one another at Alumni Hall last season due to COVID-19 issue. The last time the two teams met on the Friars' home court dates back to Jan. 26, 2020. On that day, Providence claimed a 60-48 victory.
FRIARS COMING OFF GRITTY WIN OVER BUTLER... Providence overcame a sluggish second quarter against Butler on Friday night that resulted in a 32-26 deficit at halftime. After jumping out to a 19-9 lead in the first quarter, Butler went on an 11-0 run to take a 20-19 advantage in the second. The Bulldogs out-scored the Friars 21-7 in the second quarter overall. In the second half, Providence chipped away at Butler's lead and dominated the fourth quarter with a 25-12 edge in scoring. With Mary Baskerville and Alyssa Geary saddled with foul trouble, a trio of freshmen (Olivia Olsen, Kylee Sheppard and Audrey Koch) combined to score 16 of the Friars' 25 fourth-quarter points. Olsen finished the game with her second double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. Sheppard and Baskerville each notched 11 points, while Janai Crooms checked in with 10 points eight rebounds and eight assists. It marked the first time this season that four players had reached double figures in the scoring column.
ROAD WARRIORS... After wrapping up the weekend slate against Butler and Xavier, the Friars will play four of it's last five games on the road. The closing stretch of the season includes three road games in five days vs. Butler (Feb. 16), Seton Hall (Feb. 18) and St. John's (Feb. 20).Â
JANAI CROOMS IS LOCKED IN... Janai Crooms leads the Friars in scoring (14.0 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg) and assists (3.9 apg) through the 22 games she has played, while shooting 46-percent from the field (116-252). Crooms has hit double-figures in the scoring column in each of the last six games, including a career-high 27 points against UConn. During the six game stretch, she has averaged 16.7 points per game and has shot 48-percent. In three of the six games, she has posted a field-goal percentage above 60-percent. In the Friars' most recent game against Butler, Crooms recorded 10 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three blocked shots and one steal.
HEATING UP FROM DEEP... Janai Crooms' three-point shooting of late has added another dimension to her offensive arsenal. In her first 17 games this season, Crooms was 3-11 from three-point land. In the last five games, Crooms has hit 7-14 shots from deep (.500).
FRIARS IN OVERTIME... Providence is 2-1 in overtime games this season. Both of their wins during overtime have come on the road against Maine (66-61) and Georgetown (66-58). The Friars lone loss in OT came at home against Yale (63-57) in the 2021-22 season opener.
FULL STRENGTH... On Jan. 11, in the first meeting against Xavier, the Friars suited an entire roster of healthy players for the first time during the 2021-22 season. Leading up to that game, four different players had missed seven-or-more games due to injury, including Mary Baskerville, Kylee Sheppard, Nariah Scott and Grace Efosa.Â
DEFENSE... The Friars have held six opponents to 50 points or less this season, including three BIG EAST opponents: Villanova (47), Xavier (49) and St. John's (49). The Friars are 6-0 in those games, including a 3-0 mark in the BIG EAST Conference.Â
CLEANING THE GLASS... Providence has recorded 40+ rebounds in 12 of its 23 games, including two games with 50+ boards. Last year, Providence eclipsed 40 rebounds in just one game (49 vs. Butler, 3/5/21) .Â
DOUBLE-TROUBLE... Janai Crooms leads the Friars and ranks third in the BIG EAST with six double-doubles. Mary Baskerville (2), Olivia Olsen (2) and Alyssa Geary (1) also have recorded double-doubles for the Friars this season. Additionally, Baskerville has 19 double-doubles in her career, which ranks fifth in the BIG EAST among active players.
FRIARS AMONG THE TOP SHOT-BLOCKING TEAMS IN THE NATION... The Friars lead the BIG EAST and rank fourth in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.0 bpg) and total blocks (139). Mary Baskerville leads the Friars with an average of 2.3 rejections per game. Five players on the team have cracked double-digits in blocked shots and have combined for 113 of the Friars' 139 rejections overall: Baskerville (36), Crooms (27), Alyssa Geary (25), Olivia Olsen (16) and Emily Archibald (11).Â
FRIARS' HAVE RECORDED FOURTH HIGHEST BLOCK TOTAL IN PROGRAM HISTORY... The Friars have recorded 139 blocked shots this season, with six regular-season games left on the schedule. The Friars' 139 blocked shots are the fourth-highest total in program history for a single season. The single-season record for blocked shots was set in 1977-78 (190).
190 Â Â Â 1977-78
152 Â Â Â 1983-84
151 Â Â Â 2008-09
139 Â Â Â 2021-22
MORE REJECTION... The Friars recorded a season-high 11 blocks against Xavier on Jan. 11. It marked the second time this year that the team has registered double-digit blocks. Prior to this season, the last time the Friars recorded double-digit blocks in a game was on Nov. 12, 2013 against Bryant.
MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS AMONG NCAA DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN BLOCKED SHOTS AND BLOCKS PER GAME... Mary Baskerville ranks 25th among NCAA Division I active career leaders in blocks per game (1.78 bpg). In 99 games at Providence, Baskerville has recorded 176 blocked shots. Her career total ranks second among active BIG EAST players, trailing only UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa. She also ranks 24th among NCAA active career leaders in total blocks.
MARY BASKERVILLE WORKING HER WAY UP THE FRIARS' ALL-TIME SCORING LIST... Mary Baskerville currently owns 1,051 career points and ranks 29th on the Friars' all-time scoring. In the Friars' most recent game against Butler, Baskerville scored 11 points and passed Shauna Snyder '07 (1,043). Baskerville needs just five points to take sole possession of 28th place, currently held by Mary Ellen Buchanan '79 (1,055).
MARY BASKERVILLE RANKS 14th ALL-TIME AT PROVIDENCE IN CAREER REBOUNDS... Senior Mary Baskerville ranks 14th all-time in career boards at Providence with 690. With her six boards against Butler on Friday night, Baskerville passed Nadine Malcolm '97 (688). She needs 21 rebounds to take sole possession of 13th place, currently held by Mary Casey '79 (710).
JANAI CROOMS RANKS 14TH AT PROVIDENCE CAREER ASSISTS... Janai Crooms owns 321 career assists and ranks 13th on the Friars' all-time list. In 105 career games, Crooms is averaging 3.1 assists per game. On Friday night against Butler, Crooms dished eight assists, marking her second-highest total of the season. She has handed out 8+ assists four times this year. Crooms needs just four assists to take sole possession of 12th place on the Friars' all-time list, currently held by Mary Ann McCoy '80 (324).
FLIRTING WITH THE PROGRAM'S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE... Janai Crooms has narrowly missed out on a bid for a triple-double in four games this season. On Nov. 20 against Boston College, she finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Against Hartford on Dec. 1, she logged 25 points, 11 boards and eight assists. On Dec. 8 against Brown, Crooms put up 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Most recently, Crooms put up 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against Butler (Feb. 11). In the program's 48-year existence, a Friar has never recorded a triple-double.
OLIVIA OLSEN MAKING THE MOST OF HER TIME ON THE COURT... Freshmen forward Olivia Olsen has provided a spark off the bench for the Friars in her first season. Olsen plays roughly 17 minutes per game for the Friars, shooting an efficient 57-percent from the field (63-111) and averaging 6.7 points, 4.9 rebounds per game. She ranks third on the team in rebounding, and is second in offensive boards (44). Olsen has produced two double-doubles as a rookie, including a 13 points, 11 rebound effort against Butler on Feb. 11.
ROOKIE IMPACT... Freshman point guard Kylee Sheppard missed nine of the Friars first 11 games while battling injury. She has appeared in each of the last 12 games for Providence and has played in 14 games overall. In a small sample size of the season, she has played a key role and currently ranks second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and assists (2.6 apg) and first in steals (1.8 spg). She also contributes 3.6 rebounds per game. She has reached double digits in the scoring column seven times, including a career-best 22 points against DePaul. She eclipsed the 20-point mark for a second time in Providence's victory over Georgetown on Jan. 23. Sheppard drained 21 points against the Hoyas, including seven in overtime.
AUDREY KOCH CRACKS DOUBLE FIGURES... On Jan. 28, freshmen Audrey Koch came off the bench in the Friars' game against Creighton and cracked double digits in the scoring column for the first time as a Friar. In just 20 minutes of action, she netted 13 points on 5-7 shooting, including a 2-3 effort from beyond the arc.
MARY BASKERVILLE NAMED TO ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM AT THE CONCLUSION OF 2020-21 SEASON... Last season, Mary Baskerville led Providence College in scoring (12.7 ppg), rebounding (6.5 rpg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg), steals (1.4 spg) and field-goal percentage (.538, 112-208). For her efforts, she was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. It marked her first postseason honor since earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and BIG EAST All-Freshman Team accolades in 2019.Â
CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF... The NCAA cleared Janai Crooms to play during the 2021-22 season on Nov. 4, prior to the Friars' exhibition game against Bentley. Crooms was a four-star recruit and ranked No. 36 in 2018 class by Prospect Nation coming out of St. Andrew's (Barrington, R.I.). She played two seasons at Ohio State (2018-20) before transferring to Michigan State for the 2020-21 campaign. Crooms has two years of eligibility remaining, including the current 2021-22 seasons.
PROVIDENCE PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL... The Friars were picked to finish eighth in the 2021-22 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released at the league's annual media day at MSG in New York City. The Friars recorded 32 points in the poll and sit above Georgetown (27), Xavier (18) and Butler (17). Connecticut was a unanimous selection to win the league for a second-straight season.
FRIARS IN THE POSTSEASON... The Friars' last appeared in the postseason during the 2018-19 campaign, when their current senior class came on to the scene as freshmen. Providence's 2019 WNIT selection marked the program's 15th post-season appearance overall and first since 2010. In 2019-20, NCAA and WNIT Championships were canceled to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Friars did not qualify for postseason during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. Complete post-season breakdown follows (records in parentheses):
2018-19 WNIT Round of 16 (2-1)
2009-10 WNIT Quarterfinal Round (3-1)
1991-92 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1990-91 NCAA Tournament Second Round (1-1)
1989-90 NCAA Tournament East Regional (1-1)
1988-89 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1986-87 National Women's Invitational Tournament (1-2)
1985-86 NCAA Tournament First Round (0-1)
1981-82 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1980-81 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1979-80 EAIAW National Tournament (3-1)
1978-79 EAIAW Regional Tournament (0-1)
1977-78 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-1)
1976-77 EAIAW Regional Tournament (2-2)
1975-76 EAIAW Regional Tournament (1-2)
WHAT'S NEXT... The Friars will hit the road to play three games in five days. The stretch begins at Butler on Wednesday, Feb. 16 with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Jan. 2, but was canceled due to COVID issues within the Friars' program. Providence will remain on the road to for match-ups with Seton Hall (Feb. 18) and St. John's (Feb. 20).
