NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, 18th in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 poll announced Tuesday, will be thoroughly tested by the time the first regular-season poll is announced.
The Gold Nuggets, 24-10 last season, will:
• Open the season with a ranked opponent — No. 5 Campbellsville — for the first time since 2007.
• Open the season with four consecutive ranked opponents: Campbellsville, No. 9 Bethel (Tenn.), No. 22 Mobile and No. 11 Our Lady of the Lake.
• Play consecutive games against top-10 opponents for the first time since November 1999. Xavier will face Campbellsville at 6 p.m. Friday and Bethel at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Bethel Chamber of Commerce Shootout at McKenzie, Tenn.
The Gold Nuggets are in the preseason top 25 for the fifth consecutive year and the 12th time in Bo Browder's 16 seasons as head coach. The gauntlet they'll run extends to last season, when they closed with three consecutive ranked opponents.
The first regular-season poll will be announced Dec. 9. By that time Xavier also will have played No. 6 Wiley and No. 24 Langston (Nov. 27-28 in the Xavier Classic) and Mobile a second time (Dec. 1 at Mobile). Mobile will be the Gold Nuggets' home opener at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12.
Defending champion Oklahoma City is preseason No. 1 after receiving 8-of-10 first-place votes.
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Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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