Onward to Xavier

The Cardinal have moved on to Ohio where they will have Thanksgiving dinner at Michaela's home in Beavercreek. Then they'll continue on to Cincinnati to play Xavier on Friday.

There will be no telecast or webcast of this game, but it will be broadcast by KZSU. The game is at 10:00 in the morning Pacific Time. If you're working on Friday, try to take a long early lunch hour. If not, be sure to get home from your Black Friday shopping trip in time for the game.

Tyeasha Moss guards Jos at Maples last season

Xavier has led their conference (Atlantic 10) and been a strong NCAA contender for the past three seasons. They had perfect conference seasons, were the A10 runner-up in 2009 and the A10 champion in 2010 and 2011. In 2008-09, they were ranked 20/18 in the national polls and made their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Gonzaga in the first round. In 2009-10, they were ranked 5/5 and, as you may remember, lost to Stanford in the Elite Eight. Last season, they were again ranked 5/5 but lost in the second round.

But things are very different at Xavier this season. Head coach Kevin McGuff left to take the head coaching job at the University of Washington, and the staff is now headed by former assistant coach Amy Waugh. Four seniors graduated, including "twin towers" Ta’Shia Phillips and Amber Harris. Three-point specialist Katie Rutan transferred to Maryland.

Xavier returns just one starter, senior guard Tyeasha Moss. They have only ten active players. They have been picked to finish seventh in the A10.

Xavier's RPI, as calculated by Sagarin/CBS is 87 and their schedule strength is 14 — they've started the season with some tough games. They defeated Eastern Kentucky 66-61 in their home opener, then lost the next two on the road.They battled back from an 11-point deficit against Mississippi State to within two with less than a minute to go, but lost 65-71. Last Sunday they lost 44-62 to No. 9/10 Louisville.

The Musketeers' main weakness so far this season is ball-handling. They've averaged 16 turnovers a game. They don't shoot from beyond the arc very well — 16 of 67 attempts so far. They make about 33% of their field goal attempts. On the plus side, they rebound well, getting three more per game than their opponents.

The Xavier starters are:

• #0, 5'9" senior guard Tyeasha Moss is Xavier's only returning starter. She is their leading scorer (13.0 ppg), second-best rebounder (7.0 rpg) and primary 3-point shooter (2.7 per game at a rate of 28.6%).
• #10, 6'0" sophomore guard Lynette Holmes averages 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds.
• #3, 5'3" sophomore guard Shatyra Hawkes averages 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds
• #12, 6'2" redshirt junior forward Jessica Pachko transferred to Xavier from Marquette last season and did not play. She averages 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.
• #2, 6'1" redshirt junior forward Amber Gray transferred to Xavier from Tennessee, which wouldn't clear her to play basketball after she sat out her sophomore season as she recovered from brain surgery for a life-threatening stroke. Now in her second season at Xavier, she is their leading rebounder with 8.7 per game and averages 8.0 points

Only three other players have come off the bench so far this season, each for a bit more than 10 minutes per game: 6'2" senior center Sabrina Johnson, 6'3" freshman forward Liz Stratman and 5'10" sophomore guard Ashley Wanninger.

Here are Xavier's 2011-12 statistics and roster.