NEW ORLEANS — Jarryn Cleaves scored 18 points and Dominee Matthews 16 Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 78-70 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Dillard.
     Erica Turnbull added 13 points and Vyaisha Moss a season-high 10 for the Gold Nuggets (21-10, 13-5), who closed the regular season with their third consecutive victory. Xavier will host a quarterfinal game Wednesday in the GCAC Tournament at The Barn. The Nuggets will be the No. 2 seed.
     Crystal Marcial scored 19 points, Chayla Green 14 and Roshawnda Bolton 11 for Dillard (5-21, 5-13).
     Xavier shot a season-best 50.9 percent from the floor and limited the Lady Blue Devils to 38.6 percent.
     Xavier led 39-38 at halftime and took the lead for good at 41-40 on Turnbull's basket with 19:20 remaining. Turnbull scored six points during a 9-0 run which gave the Nuggets a 76-66 lead with 52 seconds remaining.
     Cleaves had four assists and became the third female in NAIA Division I to reach 60 3-pointers, 60 assists and 60 steals this season. The others are Jessica Richter of top-ranked Vanguard and Hilary Disch of Olivet Nazarene. All three are junior guards. Cleaves has 78 3-pointers (a Xavier season record), 60 assists and 66 steals in 31 games.
     The game was the first in Dillard's Dent Hall since Hurricane Katrina hit metro New Orleans in August 2005.
     Xavier began the day tied for second place in the GCAC with SUNO, but the Lady Knights dropped to third after a 60-49 loss at LSU-Shreveport. The Nuggets' quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of Monday's first-round game matching William Carey and Tougaloo.