NEW ORLEANS —
Jarryn Cleaves scored 14 points Thursday, including four free throws during a 10-0 run in the final four minutes, to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 56-51 women's basketball victory against Robert Morris of Chicago in the Xavier Classic at The Barn.
Jessica Harris' 3-point play gave Robert Morris (2-2) its biggest lead, 51-46, with 4:14 remaining. But the Lady Eagles did not score in their final eight possessions, missing six shots from the floor, one free throw and committing two turnovers. Cleaves' two free throws with 3:48 remaining started the Gold Nuggets' run, and she passed to
Brittany Whitmore for a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining that put Xavier (5-2) ahead to stay at 53-51.
Robert Morris had a chance to tie in the final minute, but Cleaves stole a Jerita Gordon pass after Gordon rebounded Chanel Jones-Delas' missed 3-pointer. Cleaves was fouled and made the first of two free throws for a 55-51 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
Erica Turnbull had 13 points and nine rebounds for Xavier, which is 24th in Victory Sports Network's NAIA Division I rankings this week. The Nuggets won for the 54th time in the last 56 games in their campus gym.
Janesha Washington scored 13 points, Jones-Delas 11 and Harris 10 for Robert Morris. Washington also had six assists and four steals. Janae Mason grabbed 10 rebounds and Jones-Delas nine.
Xavier outshot Robert Morris 42 to 34 percent from the floor, but the Lady Eagles had a 40-35 rebound advantage and committed four fewer turnovers. Xavier outscored Robert Morris 11-3 from the line.
The victory was
Bo Browder's 200th as a head coach at four-year colleges. He was 2-8 as the interim women's coach at Evansville for the final 10 games of the 1995-96 season. He became Xavier's head coach in 1998-99 and is 198-75 with the Nuggets. His 10-season total entering the Grambling game is 200-83 (.707).
Xavier will play Grambling (1-3) at 5 p.m. Friday in the final game of this six-team event. The other games will match Robert Morris against Texas College (0-6) at 1 p.m. and Langston (5-1) against Dillard (4-1) at 3 p.m.
