NEW ORLEANS — Lateefa Marshall had 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists Monday to lead SUNO to a 70-55 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against NAIA No. 22 Xavier University of Louisiana at The Barn.
     Shatyne Hearn scored 18 points for the Lady Knights (14-6 overall, 10-5 GCAC), and Disha Leonard and Sherrie Varcise scored 10 apiece.
     Erica Turnbull scored 18 points and Dominee Matthews 13 for Xavier (18-9, 10-4), which has three consecutive GCAC losses for the first time since 1998-99.
     Alissa Thompson's basket at 10:02 of the first half gave Xavier a 16-11 lead, then SUNO went ahead to stay with a 17-1 run during the next six minutes. Marshall scored eight points during the run.
     SUNO snapped Xavier's 32-game win streak at The Barn against GCAC opponents. It was Xavier's first such loss since a 64-62 decision against SUNO on Feb. 7, 2002. Against all opponents at The Barn, it was just the second loss in Xavier's last 48 games its home floor.
     SUNO became the first GCAC team since Louisiana College in 1999-2000 to defeat the Nuggets twice in the regular season. And it's the first time the Lady Knights have earned back-to-back victories against Xavier, which leads the series 49-7.
     SUNO outshot Xavier 37.9 to 26.8 percent from the floor. Xavier reached a season low for accuracy.
     Xavier remained in a second-place tie with Mobile in the GCAC because the Lady Rams lost 73-44 at Tougaloo.
     Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at LSU-Shreveport — the first of four consecutive road games to close the regular season. The Nuggets can clinch a home game in the GCAC Tournament quarterfinals Feb. 28 by defeating the Lady Pilots.