NATCHITOCHES, Louisiana -- Senior guard Janelle Perez scored a season-high 22 points Tuesday, leading Northwestern State to a 73-57 women's basketball victory against NAIA No. 9 Xavier University of Louisiana.
The Lady Demons (6-5) are 6-0 at home this season. They gave the Gold Nuggets (9-5) their third consecutive loss -- their first of the season by double digits -- and denied Bo Browder his 400th XU coaching victory.
Emoni Harvey's 3-pointer at 6:55 of the first quarter gave Xavier its only lead, 3-2. Northwestern State then scored the next seven points and led for the final 36 1/2 minutes.
Perez, who was first-team All-Southland Conference this past season, was 7-of-10 from the floor, 1-of-2 on 3-pointers, and 7-of-7 from the line in 30 minutes. She also led her team with seven rebounds and four assists.
Cheyenne Brown scored 13 points, Shahd Abboud 12 and Beatrice Attura 10 for Northwestern State, which is 4-0 this season against non-NCAA Division I opponents.
Donyeah Mayfield scored 13 points, Whitney Gathright 10 and Harvey eight for Xavier. Mayfield's eight rebounds and Gathright's six assists were game highs. Reserve guard Kelsey Joseph made her first two 3-pointers of the season and scored a season-high six points.
After trailing 34-22 at halftime Xavier twice cut its deficit to six points in the first three minutes of the third quarter. Northwestern State then produced an 11-0 run and led by double digits for the final 15 1/2 minutes.
Xavier made a season-best eight 3-pointers, but the Lady Demons outshot the Gold Nuggets 53.5 to 34.8 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 36-31. Northwestern State dominated at the line, making 25-of-34 free throws to Xavier's 3-of-4. Xavier attempted two free throws in each half and did not get to the line in the second half until 2:30 of the fourth quarter.
Browder is 399-147 in his 17th season at Xavier. His 18-year record as a head coach at 4-year colleges is 401-155.
Xavier is 0-2 this season against NCAA DI opponents. The Gold Nuggets lost 77-69 Nov. 12 at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Xavier's next game will start at 3 p.m. Saturday against LSU-Shreveport at the Convocation Center. The Gold Nuggets will play their first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game at 5:30 p.m. Monday at home against Edward Waters.
BOX SCORE
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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