JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Xavier University of Louisiana got career highs of 14 points from Donyeah Mayfield and 13 points from Alesha Smith in a 63-57 women's basketball victory Saturday at Edward Waters.
The Gold Nuggets (11-10, 4-1 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) bounced back from a 30-point home loss to GCAC leader SUNO and moved into second place after SUNO defeated Philander Smith 80-67.
Mayfield, starting for the first time in eight games, was 7-of-10 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds in 20 minutes. For the first time this season, she did not commit a turnover.
Smith, who matched her career scoring best, produced seven of her 11 first-half points in a 12-0 Xavier run to open the game. The Gold Nuggets never trailed and led for 38 1/2 minutes, including the final 24:56.
Also in double figures for Xavier was Whitney Gathright, who scored 14 points and made three 3-pointers. Her final trey ended the scoring with 22 seconds remaining and made her the seventh Gold Nugget to reach 100 3-pointers in a career.
Kyeshia Dawkins scored 14 points, Amber Antoine 13 and Britany Rowell 12 for the Lady Tigers (12-9, 1-5). Antoine grabbed 10 rebounds.
Edward Waters tied the score three times after its early deficit. Xavier went ahead to stay, 24-21, on a Trana Hopkins 3-pointer at 4:56 of the first half. Two Gathright free throws gave Xavier a 33-24 halftime lead, and the Nuggets held their biggest advantage, 42-26, after Mayfield's basket with 16:22 remaining.
Edward Waters cut Xavier's lead to 58-57 on Antoine's 3-point play with 2:33 remaining, but the Lady Tigers failed to score on their final four possessions. Gathright passed to Briggs for a basket which gave Xavier a 60-57 lead with 2:02 remaining.
Edward Waters outshot Xavier 38.2 to 35 percent from the floor. The Nuggets, led by Emoni Harvey's nine rebounds, won the boards 42-35. Xavier made 10-of-10 first-half free throws and finished 14-of-17.
Harvey and Gathright had five assists apiece, and Harvey matched her career high.
Xavier made 7-of-13 3-pointers after going a combined 0-of-9 the previous two games. Hopkins made two, and Taylor Norman's first-half trey was her first field goal of the season. This was Norman's fourth game after missing the first 17 because of a ruptured right achilles tendon.
Xavier will stay on the road and travel to Denmark, S.C., for a GCAC game against Voorhees at 5:30 p.m. EST Monday.
NOTES: Before Gathright, the last Gold Nugget to reach 100 career 3-pointers was Jasmine Grant on Feb. 25, 2010 . . . Xavier is 10-0 all-time against Edward Waters . . . They'll meet again Feb. 2 in the Nuggets' next home game . . . Harvey, a 5-foot-6 junior guard, leads Xavier with 42 rebounds in five conference games. Last season she grabbed 34 rebounds in 11 GCAC games . . . Xavier won both its GCAC road games this season and 29 of its last 34.
Box score
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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