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| Whitney Gathright XULA GOLD NUGGETS Guard, 5-4 Junior, New Orleans, La. Roster |
SHREVEPORT, Louisiana -- Xavier University of Louisiana outscored Our Lady of the Lake 9-0 in the final 2:20 Saturday but lost 77-76 to the Saints in the opening game of the LSUS Classic.
It was a matchup of ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams. OLLU (1-0) is 11th, and Xavier (1-3) is 18th. All of the Gold Nuggets' losses are to teams in the top 11.
Xavier had a chance to send the game into overtime when Alesha Smith was fouled after rebounding teammate Donyeah Mayfield's 3-point attempt with one second remaining and the Nuggets trailing by two. Smith made the first free throw but missed the second.
Eliqua Brooks scored 21 points, the most by an XU player this season. Smith scored a career-high 13 points, Mayfield had a season-high 12, and Whitney Gathright scored 11.
Taylor Hamilton scored 17 points for OLLU, Rebecca Kolawole and Courtney Bayliss had 14 apiece, and Sonji Green scored 13.
Mayfield grabbed 14 rebounds, the most in a game by an XU player in nearly three years. Gathright, the Nuggets' point guard, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and had a season-high six assists.
The teams combined to miss 35 free throws, 18 by OLLU. The Saints missed four free throws and the Nuggets three in the final minute.
"I'm tired of talking about the same thing -- not being able to close the deal," XU coach Bo Browder said. "But we're going to keep working at it and figure this thing out."
Xavier led for just seven seconds in the second half, after Mayfield's basket at 13:30 made it 49-48. Two Brooks free throws at 5:52 gave the Nuggets their largest lead, 26-20, but the Saints rallied for a 37-33 advantage at halftime.
Kolawole's two free throws at 3:37 gave the Saints their largest lead, 75-64.
OLLU shot 37.5 percent from the floor, and the Nuggets shot a season-low 37.3. Xavier had a season-best 59-42 rebound advantage.
OLLU defeated Xavier in this event for the second straight year. Sunday's games will be OLLU vs. Lindenwood-Belleville at 2 p.m., followed by Xavier vs. LSU-Shreveport at 4. LSUS beat Lindenwood-Belleville 78-59.
Box score
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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