Gold Nuggets use fast start to foil Fisk in GCAC quarters

SiMon Franklin
All-GCAC

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — SiMon Franklin scored 12 points Thursday, and NAIA No. 20 Xavier University of Louisiana used two first-half runs to roll to a 73-49 women's basketball victory against Fisk in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Gold Nuggets (23-8), the tournament's No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion, won their fifth in a row and for the 16th time in 19 games. They'll play fifth-seeded Tougaloo in the semifinals at 2 p.m. EST Friday.

Xavier outscored the Lady Bulldogs 13-2 in the first four minutes — Franklin opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Jasmine Grant made two more — then the Nuggets used a 21-0 burst which covered nearly nine minutes to take a 36-6 lead at 5:05.

"That was a great start for us," said 13th-year XU coach Browder, who won in the quarterfinals for the 10th straight time. "Hopefully we can start fast every game the rest of the season."

The Nuggets' 39-15 halftime lead was their largest at the break since a 39-11 advantage at home against Concordia (Ala.) on Jan. 6, 2011.

Franklin, an All-GCAC guard, led the Nuggets in scoring for the eighth time this season and reached double figures for the 17th time to tie Keldra Hall for the team lead. She was 5-of-7 from the floor with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 18 minutes. She was Xavier's only double-figure scorer, but 14 Nuggets scored.

Grant scored nine points — she made 3-of-9 3-pointers, giving her 69 made for the season and 189 in four years — and Carmen Holcombe and Brandi Young scored eight apiece. Xavier made five 3-pointers in the first 13 minutes and finished with seven, one less than its season best.

Reserve point guard Paige Gauthier led Xavier with six assists and five rebounds.

Lynette Waters scored 15 points, 10 in the second half, and Tiffany Wynn 10 for eighth-seeded Fisk (4-25), which finished the season with a 10-game losing streak.

Fisk outshot Xavier 41.3 to 39.1 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets were plus-11 in turnovers — Fisk committed 25, Xavier 14 — and had a 39-34 rebound advantage. Fisk dressed just seven players, and Xavier had a 36-4 advantage in bench scoring. The Nuggets committed a season-low 11 fouls and produced 17 steals.

Tougaloo, a 69-53 winner against fourth-seeded Dillard, and Xavier split their two regular-season meetings.

NOTES: Xavier is 13-1 all-time in GCAC quarterfinal games. The Nuggets had a bye in the 2011 quarterfinals, when the conference had six members . . . Grant, an All-GCAC guard, and Young led the Nuggets with three steals apiece. Grant became the 20th XU female to reach 200 steals in a career, and Young improved her career total to 197. Jazmoné Kelly had two steals and is ninth all-time with 236.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA