TOUGALOO, Miss. — Erica Turnbull scored 12 of her 14 points during a 36-8 run to start the game Saturday in Xavier University of Louisiana's 67-53 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory over Tougaloo.
     Jarryn Cleaves also scored 14 points for the Gold Nuggets (13-3 overall, 3-1 GCAC), and Brittany Whitmore scored a season-high 10. Freshman Johnna Williams scored nine points for the second consecutive game and led Xavier with eight rebounds.
     Xavier, ranked 20th in NAIA Division I, has a two-game winning streak and has won nine of its past 10 games. Tougaloo (3-9, 1-3) has lost four straight.
     Erica McElroy and Amber Johnson scored 11 points apiece for Tougaloo.
     The Lady Bulldogs outshot Xavier 44 to 36 percent from the floor, but the Nuggets shot a season-high 81 percent from the line (17-of-21), collected nine more rebounds than Tougaloo and committed seven fewer turnovers. Xavier had 15 steals, with Cleaves getting five for the second straight game and Alissa Thompson collecting four.
     Xavier led 39-21 at halftime.
     Xavier's next game will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at The Barn against Mobile, which shares the GCAC lead with Loyola.