Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Gold Nuggets rally to win at No. 22 Mobile, 57-55


MOBILE, Alabama  --  Vinnie Briggs scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half Monday to help Xavier University of Louisiana rally for a 57-55 victory against Mobile in a matchup of ranked NAIA Division I women's basketball teams.

The Gold Nuggets (5-4), ranked 18th, defeated the Lady Rams (2-5), ranked 22nd, for the second time this season.

Xavier, which trailed by 13 points late in the first half, took the lead for good, 54-53, when Eliqua Brooks made two free throws with 1:54 remaining. Mobile missed two shots in the final five seconds, including a Kali Koenig 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Whitney Gathright scored 13 points and Brooks 10 for the Gold Nuggets, who won their third straight and climbed above .500 for the first time this season.

Brooks scored all her points in the second half, including Xavier's final seven. Her 3-point play at 1:32 gave the Gold Nuggets a 57-53 lead.

Koenig scored 20 points and Jakela Johnson 13 for Mobile, and Jammieca Hudson had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Xavier trailed 30-21 at halftime after shooting 19.4 percent from the floor. The Gold Nuggets shot 50 percent in the second half.

"Our defense was outstanding in the second half, and we shot the ball much better than we did in the first half," XU coach Bo Browder said.

Xavier will play LeMoyne-Owen of NCAA Division II at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Convocation Center.

 Box score

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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