Gold Nuggets win by 20 in first road game of the season

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Andraquay Quinnine and SiMon Franklin scored 13 points apiece Friday to lead NAIA No. 9 Xavier University of Louisiana in a wire-to-wire 62-42 women's basketball victory against William Carey.

It was the first road game of the regular season for the Gold Nuggets (8-1), who won their sixth in a row and snapped a two-game losing streak at William Carey (6-5).

Quinnine's points were a season high, and it was the fourth time she scored in double figures. Franklin led Xavier with seven points during a 25-3 run which covered both halves and lasted nearly 10 minutes. Whitney Gaston-Loyd's two free throws with 14:03 remaining capped the run and gave the Nuggets their largest lead, 48-22.

Xavier's Chelsea Broussard scored 10 points, all in the first half, to equal her career best. Her final basket gave the Nuggets a 31-20 halftime lead.

Amber Jackson, with 12 points, was William Carey's only double-figure scorer. Xavier limited the Lady Crusaders' leading season scorer, Vechatita Bonner, to a season-low four points in 23 minutes.

Xavier outshot William Carey 41.7 to 33.3 percent from the floor. The Nuggets reached 40 percent for the first time since their opener. Xavier committed 18 turnovers and gained 33, 22 by steals. Quinnine, Franklin and Paige Gauthier each had four steals, and Carmen Holcombe had three.

Xavier, which entered the game No. 2 in scoring defense in NAIA Division I, allowed less than 50 points for the sixth time this season. William Carey scored its fewest points this season and lost for the first time in five games.

Xavier, a 62-59 and 60-51 loser in its previous two trips to William Carey, improved its series lead to 49-21. The teams will meet again Jan. 31 at Xavier's new Convocation Center.

It was the Nuggets' first game since the conclusion of semester exams earlier in the day, and it was their final game before Christmas. Their next games will be Dec. 28 against Belhaven and Dec. 29 against NAIA No. 24 Faulkner in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Montgomery, Ala. The Nuggets' next home game will start at 2 p.m. against NAIA No. 12 Bethel (Tenn.) on Jan. 2.

 

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA