NEW ORLEANS -- SiMon Franklin and Paige Gauthier scored 12 points apiece Thursday to lead NAIA No. 14 Xavier University of Louisiana in a 75-51 women's basketball victory against William Carey.
The victory was the fifth in a row for the Gold Nuggets (17-4), all double-digit decisions. The Lady Crusaders (7-13) have an eight-game losing streak.
Franklin was 6-of-9 from the floor -- her best shooting percentage of the season -- and led Xavier with four steals. Gauthier scored in double figures for the first time in eight games and led Xavier with seven rebounds.
Whitney Gaston-Loyd was Xavier's other double-figure scorer. She produced all 10 of her points in the first half.
Erica Moore had 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals for William Carey. Crystal Tucker had 12 points and five rebounds, and Vechatita Bonner had 10 points and six rebounds.
A Lauren Douglas 3-pointer gave William Carey an 11-4 lead at 15:56 of the first half. Then Xavier responded with an 11-0 run and never trailed again.
Franklin passed to Gaston-Loyd for a basket which tied the score at 11 at 12:07, then Gaston-Loyd scored 21 seconds later -- after a turnover -- for a 13-11 Xavier advantage, Gauthier's basket at 3:19 gave Xavier a 29-20 lead, but Bonner made consecutive 3-pointers to help the Lady Crusaders cut the Nuggets' advantage to 33-30 at halftime.
Moore made two free throws at 18:24 of the second half to reduce the margin to 36-34, then Franklin scored six points during a 9-0 run which gave Xavier a double-digit lead for the final 15:50.
Xavier did not make any of its eight 3-point attempts but attempted 36 free throws -- its most in a game in nearly two years -- and made 25. The Gold Nuggets were 20-of-27 from the line in the second half.
William Carey excelled at the line, too, making 25-of-30, but shot 31.4 percent from the floor and committed 33 turnovers. Xavier shot 37.3 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Lady Crusaders 43-33 and had a season-high-tying plus-16 turnover margin.
Xavier completed a two-game season sweep of William Carey and defeated the Lady Crusaders at Xavier for the 20th consecutive time. The Nuggets have won 52 of their last 56 home games.
Xavier's next game will start at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center against Talladega, which shares first place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with SUNO. Xavier is in third place in the GCAC and one game behind the leaders.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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