Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Nuggets to march into home stretch with No. 23 ranking

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball has climbed into the NAIA Division I top 25 for the first time this season. The Gold Nuggets were No. 23 when the NAIA announced its seventh poll of the season Tuesday.
     

"Traditionally, we have been a top 25 team," said Bo Browder, whose Gold Nuggets made the 138th top-25 appearance of his 20 seasons as head coach. "I am proud of this team for getting us back there — but we still have a lot of work to get done in March."
     

Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketballXULA (23-6) won an outright Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship when it defeated Philander Smith 66-57 at home Monday. The Gold Nuggets will be seeded first at the GCAC Tournament at Jacksonville, Fla., and play eighth-seeded city rival SUNO in opening round Friday.
     
XULA was among "others receiving votes" and in 28th place in the previous two polls. The Gold Nuggets ended the longest top-25 drought of the Browder era, 23 polls. They had not been in the top 25 since Feb. 2, 2016, when they were 24th.
     

The GCAC's second-place team, Talladega, fell from 11th to 13th. For the first time since 2014, the GCAC will have two top-25 women's teams entering its postseason tournament.
 

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Feb. 24)
RANKPREVIOUSSCHOOL RECORDPOINTS
12Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (7)28-2218
23Campbellsville (Ky.) (2)28-2212
31Columbia (Mo.)27-3204
44Montana Western22-3197
55The Master's (Calif.)25-5192
67MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)24-4184
78Carroll (Mont.)21-7174
86Wayland Baptist (Texas)25-5172
910Oklahoma City27-3161
1015Westmont (Calif.)22-7153
1114William Penn (Iowa)27-2150
129Vanguard (Calif.)21-8140
1311Talladega (Ala.)25-4134
1415Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)23-6130
1513Bethel (Tenn.)26-4125
1612Shawnee State (Ohio)22-8118
1722Menlo (Calif.)20-8102
1819Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)21-9101
1917Lyon (Ark.)23-693
2024Rocky Mountain (Mont.)19-1185
2121Arizona Christian20-1075
2217Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)19-1073
23RVXavier (La.)22-660
2425Loyola (La.)23-659
25RVPikeville (Ky.)20-1048
Dropped from the Top 25: LSU-Alexandria (La.), Providence (Mont.)
Others Receiving Votes: LSU-Alexandria (La.) 40, William Jessup (Calif.) 32, Science & Arts (Okla.) 29, Providence (Mont.) 25, Central Methodist (Mo.) 10, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 5, William Woods (Mo.) 5, Clarke (Iowa) 4

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
Department of Athletics & Recreation
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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