NEW ORLEANS — Trenese Smith scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds
to lead four scorers in double figures Saturday and give Loyola a 76-66 Gulf
Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against NAIA No. 22
Xavier University of Louisiana at The Den.
The Wolfpack (17-8 overall, 11-2 GCAC) earned its ninth consecutive victory and
broke a tie for first place with the Gold Nuggets (18-8, 10-3). Xavier dropped
into a tie for second place with idle Mobile.
Xavier scored the first two points but never led again. A 10-0 run gave Loyola a 15-4
lead through the first nine minutes, and the Wolfpack led 32-24 at halftime.
Xavier cut the gap to four points four times in the second half but never got closer.
In the final seven minutes the closest Xavier could get was 57-51 on
Erica Turnbull's
basket with 5:26 remaining. But Loyola scored the next five points, including Kiely
Schork's 3-pointer to make it 62-51 at 4:07.
Schork scored 20 points and Dani Holland 16 for Loyola. Trenell Smith,
Trenese's twin, scored 14. Holland grabbed 10 rebounds.
Jarryn Cleaves scored 24 points, 17 in the second half, for Xavier. Turnbull
had 14 points and 10 rebounds — her sixth double-double of the season —
and
Dominee Matthews scored 13.
Loyola outshot Xavier 39 to 37 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets outrebounded
the Wolfpack 42-34. Loyola outscored Xavier 28-17 from the line — the Wolfpack
was 17 of 18 in the second half — and committed 14 turnovers, seven fewer than the
Nuggets.
Loyola has not lost since a 75-70 overtime decision at Xavier on Jan. 13.
Xavier, which leads the series 22-2, lost for the first time in The Den after
10 victories. It's just the second time in six seasons that the Nuggets suffered
back-to-back conference losses and the first time since 2001-02.
Xavier will play its final regular-season home game at 5:30 p.m. Monday against
SUNO at The Barn. After that the Nuggets will play four consecutive GCAC road games,
including trips to LSU-Shreveport and Belhaven next week.
