Villanova returns to the Finneran Pavilion on Thursday to host the Xavier Musketeers. The Wildcats enter play with a 12-3 overall record and a 5-1 BIG EAST mark, while Xavier is 9-6 on the year and 2-4 in league play. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m.

Two Wildcats were honored for their play in three games last week. Freshman guard Kennedy Henry was named both the BIG EAST and Big 5 Rookie of the Week, while sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Henry averaged 15.0 points per game in the three games, while Bascoe averaged 13.6 points per contest.

Thursday's game versus Xavier will be the 24th all-time meeting between the two schools. Villanova leads the all-time series against the Musketeers by a 22-1 count. The first meeting came on March 21, 2006, when the Wildcats defeated the Musketeers by a score of 59-47 in the second round of the WNIT. The other 22 match-ups have taken place when the Wildcats and Musketeers became members of the Big East Conference.  Xavier's lone win in the series came on Dec. 31, 2015, in a 74-67 overtime victory. The Wildcats have won 17 games in a row over the Musketeers and are 13-0 against Xavier in games played at Villanova.

Sophomore guard Dani Ceseretti registered the best game of her Villanova career in Sunday's loss at Marquette. In 25 minutes of action, Ceseretti scored a career-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 1-of-2 effort from three-point range and a 1-of-1 effort from the foul line. For the year, she is shooting .455 from the field (20-of-44) and .500 from three-point range (6-of-12).

The Wildcats are led in scoring by Bascoe who is averaging 17.5 points per game. She has six 20-point games to her credit this season and 14 for her career. Bascoe has reached double figures in 14 of the 15 games this year and in 43 of 49 career games. One of her 20-point efforts came in last Sunday's game at Marquette when she had 20 points on 9-of-21 shooting.

Villanova will hit the road this weekend with a game at Providence on Sunday, Jan. 11. The game is set to tip at noon, and it can be seen on TruTV.

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