Xavier beats Sterling 74-60 to gain a split in Vegas Hoopla

LAS VEGAS — Keldra Hall scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds Wednesday, leading NAIA No. 16 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 74-60 women's basketballl victory against Sterling in the Vegas Hoopla.

SiMon Franklin and Jasmine Grant added 12 points apiece for Xavier (8-5), which snapped a two-game losing streak and earned a split of its two games in this event.

Megan Kelly scored a season-high 24 points and made 6-of-7 3-pointers for Sterling (5-6).

Sterling made 6-of-7 3-pointers in the first half, but the Gold Nuggets made 5-of-6 and shot 62 percent from the floor to take a 45-34 lead at the break. It was Xavier's most first-half points this season — the previous best was 35 — and it was the Nuggets' highest-scoring first half on the road since getting 53 at Mobile on Feb. 21, 2009.

Kayla Eilert's layup in the seventh minute gave Sterling its largest lead, 15-10, but the Nuggets answered with a 22-2 run which gave them the lead to stay. Sterling trimmed Xavier's lead to 57-55 with 10:36 remaining, but the Nuggets closed the game with a 17-5 burst.

Xavier finished at 48.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded Sterling 39-27. Five Gold Nuggets made 3-pointers, with Grant and Dalila Robinson getting two apiece and sophomore Carmen Holcombe making her first as a collegian.

Sterling shot 45.2 percent from the floor and was 8-of-14 on 3-pointers but committed 22 turnovers, seven more than Xavier. The Nuggets collected 15 steals, four apiece by Jazmoné Kelly and Brandi Young.

The Nuggets will break for Christmas, then resume their schedule with three road games the first week of January — against Southern Polytechnic on Jan. 3, 18th-ranked Shorter on Jan. 4 and Philander Smith on Jan. 7 in Xavier's Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opener.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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