CINCINNATI – Indiana State women's basketball battled on the road against Big East opponent Xavier on Monday evening, but could not overcome a strong second half from the Musketeers in the Cintas Center.
 
Xavier's 72-65 victory dropped Indiana State to 3-2 on the season while the Musketeers improved to 3-0.
 
Jamyra McChristine was the leader on the court for the Trees, as the senior forward gave the Musketeer frontcourt fits, tallying 14 points and nine rebounds by halftime and ending the evening with 18 points and 12 boards. It marked her first double-double of the season. Del'Janae Williams, in her first game of the season, was the only other Sycamore in double-figures with 12 points.
 
ISU continued to dominate on the glass, holding a 45-34 advantage over Xavier including 21 offensive rebounds. Adrian Folks and Mya Glanton chipped-in with seven and six rebounds, respectively.
 
Unlike their previous three games, the Blue & White struggle on the offensive end early, starting just 3-of-10 from the floor through the first quarter media timeout. McChristine ignited the ISU attack, scoring six of the Trees' next eight points to extend the lead to 16-8.
 
The Sycamores continued to attack on the offensive end into the second quarter, pushing their lead to 29-18 at the 4:20 mark off of a short jumper from McChristine off of a dime from Williams. Despite falling down by 11, the Musketeers clawed their way back into the game, using a 10-2 run over the final 4:20 of the period to close the game to 31-28 at halftime.
 
Xavier continued to have the hot hand out of halftime, pushing their run to 12-0 to take a 34-31 lead early in the frame. Back-to-back triples from Essy Latu and Williams, followed by a pair of free throws from Hattie Westerfeld gave the Sycamores a 39-37 lead with 7:26 left in the third. Once again, the Musketeers would answer, this time with a 10-0 run to give them a 47-39 lead. Xavier never looked back, maintaining the lead for the rest of the game and earning the 72-65 victory.  
 
Turnovers and three-point shooting plagued the Sycamores in on Monday, as ISU ended the evening with 21 turnovers while shooting just 5-of-19 from behind the arc. They did manage to make the Musketeer shooters uncomfortable, however, holding Xavier to just 2-of-11 from three-point range.
 
Indiana State is back in action on Sunday, Dec. 20 when they once again travel to Ohio for a contest with Atlantic-10 opponent, Dayton. The game is currently scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. ET.