NEW ORLEANS — For the sixth time in seven years, the women's basketball teams of Xavier University of Louisiana and Tougaloo will meet in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
The GCAC announced pairings Wednesday. The second-seeded Gold Nuggets (16-14) and the seventh-seeded Lady Bulldogs (4-22) will meet at 5 p.m. Friday at Dillard's Dent Hall in the opening round.
The XU-Tougaloo winner will advance to the semifinals against third-seeded Dillard or sixth-seeded Edward Waters at noon Saturday at Xavier's Convocation Center. The championship game will start at 3 p.m. Sunday at Xavier.
Dillard will play host to all four Friday women's games.
The Gold Nuggets have won 10 consecutive postseason games against Tougaloo, are 2-0 against the Lady Bulldogs this season and have won 22 of the last 23 meetings overall. But Tougaloo has something Xavier doesn't: a victory this season at Dillard.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 51 percent from the floor and made 25-of-32 free throws last week in a 79-57 rout which spoiled Dillard's Senior Day festivities. Nearly four weeks earlier, the Gold Nuggets scored their fewest points ever against Dillard in a 53-42 defeat.
Xavier gained a season split with Dillard by winning 60-57 at home Saturday, but the Nuggets are 9-10 since a season-best five-game winning streak from late November and the first half of December.
"It's been a wild year. I can't lie about that," said 16th-year head coach Bo Browder, whose Nuggets have won four of the past five GCAC tourneys. "We've been searching for consistency and hope we can make a nice run in the tournament. But we know we'll have to play extremely well for 40 minutes at a time. I know we're capable of doing that."
Xavier's largest winning margin of the season was 67-38 at Tougaloo on Feb. 16. The Gold Nuggets won 69-58 at home Jan. 12 against Tougaloo.
"It's March," Browder said. "Lots of upsets happen this time of year. No one had better be taking anyone lightly. Tougaloo played great at Dillard last week. That definitely got our attention."
As a No. 6 seed a year ago, Tougaloo rallied in the second half to upset third-seeded SUNO 81-74 in the quarterfinals at Dillard. Xavier won 60-47 at Dillard in the 2014 quarterfinals, then beat Tougaloo 84-73 in the semifinals and Talladega 66-59 in the final. XU junior guard Whitney Gathright, the team's leading scorer this season with 13.1 points per game, was the 2014 GCAC Tournament MVP.
The tournament winner will receive the GCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I National Championship, which will begin March 18 at Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo. Xavier qualified for the national tournament 18 times in the past 20 seasons, including 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The tournament schedule:
Quarterfinals (First Round) — Friday, March 6 at Dillard's Dent Hall
#4 Talladega vs. #5 Philander Smith, noon
#3 Dillard vs. #6 Edward Waters, 2 p.m.
#2 Xavier vs. #7 Tougaloo, 5 p.m.
#1 SUNO vs. #8 Voorhees, 7 p.m.
Semifinals — Saturday, March 7 at Xavier's Convocation Center
Xavier-Tougaloo winner vs. Dillard-Edward Waters winner, noon
SUNO-Voorhees winner vs. Talladega-Philander Smith winner, 5 p.m.
Championship — Sunday, March 8 at Xavier's Convocation Center
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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