Amy Waugh takes the ball under teammate Kate Kreager. | ZOOM |

Taru Tuukkanen (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PITTSBURGH — Xavier clinched its first Atlantic 10 regular-season title and earned the No.1 seed for next weekend's A-10 tournament with an 80-57 win over Duquesne on Thursday night.

        The No.12 Musketeers are 24-2 overall and 14-1 in the Atlantic 10 with one regular-season game remaining.

        Xavier led by just six at halftime, 38-32, when the senior post duo of Taru Tuukkanen and Jennifer Phillips took over for the Musketeers. They combined to score XU's first 16 points of the second half as the Musketeers opened up a 54-41 lead nine min utes into the half.

        Tuukkanen ended with a game-high 23 points. Phillips added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Reetta Piipari and Amy Waugh contributed seven assists apiece for Xavier.

        Xavier heads into the regular-season finale against St. Bonaventure with a one-game lead in the A-10 standings over George Washington.

        The worst the Musketeers can finish is in a tie with GW for first place in the A-10. The Musketeers would win a tiebreaker, which allowed Xavier to clinch with Thursday's victory.

        Xavier will play at St.Bonaventure at noon Sunday. The Musketeers will open play in the Atlantic 10 tournament March 3 at Temple's Liacouras Center.

XAVIER (80)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Phillips        21  5-10   4-6   1-9  1  4   14
Levandusky      19   3-5   1-2   0-3  0  4    8
Tuukkanen       30  8-12  7-10   1-6  0  2   23
Piipari         35   3-6   3-3   2-3  7  0   11
Parr            26   0-1   0-0   1-3  0  1    0
Waugh           23   2-4   2-2   0-5  7  0    8
Kreager         10   2-4   0-2   1-2  1  1    4
Yukes            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Hall            18   4-7   0-0   1-4  2  0    8
Bell            11   1-3   0-0   2-2  2  2    2
Sarajlija        2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Lowry            3   0-0   2-2   0-0  0  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 28-52 19-27  9-37 20 14   80
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.538, FT-.704. 3-Point Goals:
5-9, .556 (Levandusky 1-2, Piipari 2-3, Parr 0-1,
Waugh 2-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 3
(Phillips, Levandusky, Hall). Turnovers: 19 (Hall
4, Phillips 4, Waugh 4, Piipari 3, Bell,
Levandusky, Lowry, Parr). Steals: 9 (Tuukkanen 5,
Levandusky 3, Lowry).


DUQUESNE (57)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Pender          28   2-6   0-0   1-3  1  1    5
Friday          29   5-9   1-2   2-7  0  5   11
Vander Zanden   28   4-7   3-6   1-6  1  3   11
Este-shehu      25   4-9   1-5   0-2  5  4   11
Sharon          22   0-3   2-2   0-0  4  0    2
Egleston        18   0-1   0-0   0-0  2  0    0
Jennings        15   2-7   1-2   0-1  2  3    5
Futrell         13   2-9   0-0   3-3  0  2    5
Shetko          12   2-3   0-0   0-2  1  2    5
Greger          10   1-3   0-0   0-1  0  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 22-57  8-17  7-25 16 20   57
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.386, FT-.471. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (Pender 1-3, Este-shehu 2-3, Sharon
0-2, Egleston 0-1, Jennings 0-2, Futrell 1-4,
Shetko 1-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1
(Sharon). Turnovers: 19 (Sharon 5, Este-shehu 4,
Egleston 3, Pender 3, Friday, Greger, Jennings,
Vander Zanden). Steals: 6 (Friday 3, Egleston,
Este-shehu, Vander Zanden).
__________________________________
Xavier             38   42  -   80
Duquesne           32   25  -   57
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 642. Officials:
Blauch, Ken Chepy, Beverly Roberts.

---

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