TOUGALOO, Miss. — Shayla Boyd's layup with 16 seconds remaining Thursday gave Xavier University of Louisiana a 55-53 women's basketball victory over Tougaloo.
     Xavier (18-7, 9-4) remained two games off the lead in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference but climbed into a third-place tie with William Carey, which lost 72-55 at Belhaven.
     Boyd's layup broke a tie at 53, then Tougaloo (7-18, 4-9) failed to take another shot because of a turnover with six seconds remaining.
     Boyd scored 15 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers. Brittany Powell added 10 points and six rebounds for the Gold Nuggets, and SiMon Franklin had nine points and a career-high seven rebounds.
     Xavier's largest lead was 34-20 at halftime. The Nuggets never trailed in the second half.
     Tougaloo freshman Victoria Jones had 19 points and 20 rebounds — her eighth consecutive double-double and her 16th of the season. Jones had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the second half. Kim Kern added 18 points for the Lady Bulldogs.
     Loyola took sole possession of first place in the GCAC by winning 69-52 at LSU-Shreveport. The Wolfpack is 11-2 in the conference, and LSUS is 10-3.
     Xavier will play GCAC, HBCU and city rival SUNO at 5 p.m. Saturday at The Barn in a Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone game to further breast cancer awareness.