NEW ORLEANS — Erica Turnbull scored five of her 15 points in overtime Saturday, including the go-ahead basket with 34 seconds remaining, to rally 23rd-ranked Xavier to a 75-70 victory against Loyola in a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball game at The Barn.
     Dominee Matthews had 19 points and eight rebounds for Xavier (13-5 overall, 5-0 GCAC), and Jarryn Cleaves had 17 points and nine rebounds and surpassed 1,000 career points. Turnbull grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, and Rynika Hebert had a career-best 14 rebounds.
     Freshman Trenese Smith scored 29 points for Loyola (8-8, 2-2) before fouling out with 3:27 remaining in overtime with the Wolfpack leading 67-63. Her twin Trenell scored 16 points.
     Xavier scored the final six points after Kimberly Rigg's free throw gave Loyola a 70-69 lead with 1:37 remaining. After Turnbull's basket, Cleaves and Brittany Whitmore each made free throws to increase the margin to 73-70, then Alissa Thompson stole Riggs' inbounds pass in the backcourt and passed to Cleaves for a layup and the final points.
     Turnbull scored the final basket of regulation with two seconds remaing to tie the score at 63.
     Cleaves scored 14 first-half points — including a 3-pointer at 7:07 to give her 1,001 career points — to spark the Gold Nuggets to a 44-29 lead at the break, but Trenese Smith scored 21 second-half points to rally the Wolfpack.
     Xavier is 3-0 in overtime games this season and 22-1 all-time against Loyola, including 11-0 in The Barn. The Nuggets have won 52 of their last 57 GCAC games and have a 28-game winning streak in The Barn against GCAC opponents.
     Xavier's next game will start at 5 p.m. next Saturday at The Barn against GCAC opponent Belhaven.