Xavier's Nicole Levandusky pressures ex-Lakota High star Brooke Wyckoff . (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Jennifer Phillips scored a career-high 29 points and Taru Tuukkanen had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead No.15 Xavier to a 75-72 victory over Florida State on Thursday night.

        Phillips and Tuukkanen each buried 9-of-12 shots and came through when the Lady Musketeers (18-2) needed them most.

        Phillips scored 18 points in the first half as Xavier took a 37-35 lead, then sank a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to play to seal the victory.

        Xavier made an 18-10 run to take the lead for good with 4:29 left. Tuukkanen scored 12 points in that six- minute span, starting with a basket and ending with a pair of free throws.

        “To be honest, we like to play against size,” XU coach Melanie Balcomb said. “We like to go inside when playing bigger teams.

        "This is the fourth game in a row we've had to hit free throws down the stretch, and we've been successful.”

Xavier's Jennifer Parr looks for an outlet. | ZOOM |

        Levys Torres had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Florida State (12-8). April Traylor added 20 points, and former Lakota High star Brooke Wyckoff had 13.

        “It was great to come back home and get that kind of support from the fans,” said Wyckoff, the forward whose visit to Cincinnati prompted Lakota East and West to cancel their girls game Thursday so players and fans could attend the Xavier game. “Obviously the homecoming would have been better if we had won. It was a great game.”

        Balcomb said XU went to a zone defense because the Muskies couldn't match up with Wyckoff.

        “She's been a warrior for us,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said of Wyckoff. “She does everything she can to help us win.”

Waugh makes season debut
Xavier's Sato renews friendship, heritage

FLORIDA ST (72)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Torres          31 10-13  4-10  3-13  0  5   24
Wyckoff         30  6-12   0-0   2-5  2  4   13
Vujas           22   4-8   0-0   1-5  4  5    8
Springle        27   0-3   0-0   1-3  1  2    0
Traylor         39  7-22   4-5   4-5  5  4   20
Whiting         18   2-9   0-0   2-2  1  1    4
Hofmann         13   0-0   0-0   0-2  1  1    0
Brown            9   0-0   0-0   0-1  1  0    0
Beal            11   1-2   0-0   0-0  1  0    3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-69  8-15 13-36 16 22   72
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.435, FT-.533. 3-Point Goals:
4-15, .267 (Wyckoff 1-2, Springle 0-1, Traylor
2-7, Whiting 0-3, Beal 1-2). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 20 (Whiting 6,
Wyckoff 5, Traylor 3, Beal 2, Torres 2, Hofmann,
Vujas). Steals: 16 (Traylor 8, Wyckoff 3, Whiting
2, Hofmann, Springle, Vujas).


XAVIER (75)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Phillips        38  9-12 11-13   3-8  4  4   29
Levandusky      20   1-8   7-9   0-1  1  5    9
Tuukkanen       37  9-12   7-8  4-11  1  3   25
Piipari         36   1-6   1-1   0-0  5  0    3
Parr            37   2-5   0-0   0-2  5  2    4
Waugh           18   1-3   0-0   0-0  3  0    3
Kreager          2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Hall             3   0-0   0-0   1-1  0  2    0
Bell             9   1-1   0-0   1-2  1  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 24-47 26-31  9-25 20 17   75
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.511, FT-.839. 3-Point Goals:
1-12, .083 (Levandusky 0-5, Piipari 0-3, Parr
0-2, Waugh 1-2). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots:
None. Turnovers: 22 (Piipari 8, Levandusky 3,
Tuukkanen 3, Waugh 3, Parr 2, Phillips 2, Bell).
Steals: 11 (Levandusky 3, Piipari 3, Tuukkanen 3,
Bell, Parr).
__________________________________
Florida St         35   37  -   72
Xavier             37   38  -   75
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 1,859. Officials:
Ralph Pickett, Joanne Aldrich, Brunette.

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