MOBILE, Ala. — Sophomore guard Jasmine Grant scored 14 points and was 4-of-4 on 3-pointers Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 69-62 women's basketball victory over Martin Methodist on the final day of the Port City Tip-Off Classic.
     Xavier and Mobile, both members of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, were 2-0 in the season-opening event.
     Grant, who led Xavier with 46 3-pointers as a freshman, made her first trey at 12:19 of the first half to cap a 15-4 run which turned the Gold Nuggets' 7-2 deficit into a 17-11 lead.
     Xavier tied a school-record for 3-point accuracy by making 6-of-8, including all five first-half attempts. Grant was 3-of-3 in the opening period, and freshman walk-on Shakara Young was 2-of-2.
     Grant's fourth 3-pointer gave Xavier its biggest lead, 58-41, with 12:46 remaining. Martin Methodist rallied from there but never came closer than four points.
     Brittany Powell added 12 points and Marchelle Jones nine for the Nuggets, who outshot Martin Methodist 48 to 40 percent from the floor.
     Whitney Robison, with 21 points, was the only double-figure scorer for Martin Methodist. Jessy Christopher scored nine. The RedHawks are 0-2 for the first time since the 2003-04 season. They won 19 games this past season and spent five consecutive weeks in the NAIA Division I top 25.
     Xavier won against a TranSouth Athletic Conference opponent for the first time since beating Trevecca Nazarene in the opening round of the 2003 NAIA Division I National Championship.
     Mobile defeated Talladega 62-43 in Saturday's second game.
     The Nuggets' next game will be a 7 p.m. exhibition next Saturday against the New Orleans Lady Hurricanes at The Barn.