NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will play Southern Nazarene at 9:45 p.m. on March 15 in the opening round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Frankfort, Ky.The game will be the last of 16 first-round matchups over two days.
The NAIA announced all 16 first-round pairings and tip-off times early Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day the NAIA announced that the Gold Nuggets (25-8) were 18th in the coaches poll. Xavier qualified for nationals with an automatic bid by defeating Talladega 58-50 on Saturday in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
Xavier will appear in the national tournament for the 16th time in 18 seasons and the third consecutive year. XU coach Bo Browder's teams have qualified for nationals 11 times in his 13 seasons.
"Our team has put in a lot of work to get to nationals," Browder said. "We've been blessed to go to nationals frequently, but we never take it for granted. We're looking forward to the opening round and seeing how far we can go."
The Gold Nuggets were 12-2 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and won the regular-season championship. They'll enter nationals with a seven-game win streak.
Tournament bracket (PDF) NAIA tournament website
Xavier ranks sixth in NAIA Division I in steals per game (12.5) and field-goal percentage defense (.338), seventh in scoring defense (53.6) and eighth in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.255). Leading scorers are 5-oot-7 junior guard SiMon Franklin (10 points per game), 6-foot senior center Keldra Hall (9.9) and 5-8 senior guard Jasmine Grant (9.7). All three were All-GCAC, with Hall earning that honor for the second consecutive year. Franklin was the most valuable player of the GCAC Tournament and was joined by Grant and 5-6 senior Brandi Young (5.9) on the all-tournament team.
Browder was chosen GCAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season and a GCAC-record fifth time.
Southern Nazarene (24-9), ranked 16th, was 16-6 (third place) in the 12-team Sooner Athletic Conference and lost 61-55 to the NAIA's top-ranked team, Oklahoma City, in the SAC Tournament championship game. This will be third meeting between Xavier and Southern Nazarene — the Crimson Storm won in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons — and the first in the postseason.
Xavier defeated 13th-ranked Lee (Tenn.) 63-53 in the 2011 opening round, then lost 67-51 to fourth-ranked Oklahoma City.
The Frankfort Convention Center will play host to the tournament this season after 22 consecutive years at Jackson, Tenn. The tournament will conclude March 20.
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