NEW ORLEANS — Freshman guard Jasmine Grant scored all 15 of her points in the second half Monday to lead NAIA No. 19 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 75-53 women's basketball victory over Huston-Tillotson at The Barn.
     The Gold Nuggets (2-0) won their home opener for the 17th consecutive season and improved their winning streak at The Barn to 20 games.
     Another freshman guard, SiMon "Money" Franklin, scored 12 points for Xavier, and Brittany Powell and LaTashia Wise scored 10 apiece. Freshman point guard Marchelle Jones had eight assists and six steals, and her older sister, Danielle, scored nine.
     Brittany Hillard had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Huston-Tillotson (0-3), and Ashley Bell had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Deanira Monday had nine points.
     Grant scored all her points from 3-point range. She was 5-of-9 from behind the arc in the second half after going 0-of-3 in the first.
     Xavier trailed 11-4 in the first six minutes but took the lead for good at 24-23 on Wise's basket at 2:37 of the first half. The Nuggets led 32-29 at halftime.
     The Lady Rams, losing for the second straight day on the road, shot 19 percent from the floor in the second half after shooting 50 percent in the first. But after getting outrebounded by an average of 24½ in its first two games, HTU won this battle of the boards 42-39.
     Xavier used 12 players, and all of them scored. The Nuggets had a 31-11 advantage in bench scoring.
     The Nuggets' next game will start at 5 p.m. EST Friday against NAIA No. 23 Berry in the Jack Souther Classic at Cleveland, Tenn.