2024-25 was a mixed bag for the first-year guard.
It’s time to continue with player reviews for Northwestern women’s basketball! On April 3, Inside NU explored the impact of four Wildcat reserves who saw relatively limited playing time in 2024-25. Next on the list, we have Xamiya Walton, a first-year guard who played in all 27 games for the ‘Cats.
The Good
After averaging 23.3 points-per-game as a four-year varsity player in high school, Walton came to Northwestern with a chance to make an immediate impact. A top recruit coming into the season, Walton caught head coach Joe McKeown’s eye with her pure shooting stroke, ability to distribute the ball and knack for generating steals on defense. Her stats ended up being relatively modest by the end of the season (1.4 PPG, 16 assists, 13 rebounds, five steals), but nonetheless, there were a couple of positive signs for the first-year.
First and foremost, it’s clear Walton is a good shooter. Fans may question her prowess due to a 9-of-42 three-point shooting clip on the season, but despite the numbers, Walton arguably possesses the best and most consistent shooting form of anyone on the Wildcats. Even when her shots weren’t falling, her shooting touch was present, and fans can’t forget that Walton once made 15 three-pointers in a single high school game. Furthermore, Walton played over 20 minutes just once all season, and she often saw below double-digit minutes, making it difficult for her to find a shooting rhythm at times.
Crucially, Walton also showed signs of development throughout the season. In her first couple of games against Illinois State and Lehigh, Walton struggled to find her groove, shooting a combined 0-of-9 from the field and recording just one assist. Throughout the rest of the season, her shooting and passing numbers rose, and she seemed to improve at handling aggressive defenders and making decisive passes. For someone who often operated the offense as a point guard, consistency in ballhandling is key, and although Walton didn’t perform as well as Caroline Lau in that department, she still showed signs of improvement. Of course, consistency is something that comes with experience, and although Walton will need to step up statistically to earn more playing time, there’s plenty of potential for her in the coming years.
The Bad
Despite Walton’s potential, there were some negative signs with regard to her development as a true point guard.
First and foremost, her height is a factor that cannot be ignored. At 5’7”, Walton was the shortest player on the Wildcats’ roster last year, and it was clear that her height drastically hindered her ability to create off-the-dribble shots against Big Ten guards. Very rarely did Walton have an open look in 2024-25, and although the lack of good chances wasn’t entirely her fault, she’ll certainly need to step up her shot-creation prowess to truly be a difference-maker in 2025-26.
Walton also didn’t impact the game on the defensive end in the ways that Coach McKeown likely hoped she would. After averaging five steals per game in high school, Walton put up just five all season with the ‘Cats. Although the defensive effort was there, Walton’s quickness and disruptive ability were lacking at times. The ‘Cats shouldn’t necessarily expect her to be a steal machine in her college tenure, but increased production on the defensive end would be a major path for Walton to see more time on the court next season. If numbers remain low, however, there’s a possibility that she remains somewhat out of favor in the Northwestern guard rotation going forward.
The Bottom Line
Overall, Walton’s sample size remains limited, and there’s still reason for optimism that she’ll be able to develop in a big way during her remaining three seasons. At the same time, however, she’ll have to compete with Caroline Lau, Casey Harter and even fellow incoming sophomores Kat Righeimer and Claire Keswick for playing time next year. Lau shines as a passer, and the latter three all have three-point shooting potential, meaning Walton will likely have to develop all areas of her game in order to establish herself as the sixth or seventh player in the rotation.
At the end of the day, Walton probably projects as the third-best returning guard for the Wildcats, behind established starters Lau and Harter. Righeimer may pose an underrated threat to Walton’s playing time given her stellar play (albeit in very limited action) last season, but for now, it seems like that third guard spot is Walton’s to lose. If she can improve as a passer and defender, she’ll likely retain that place in the rotation. However, without those improvements, Walton may see similar minutes to the 8.5-per-game she averaged in 2024-25.