NEW ORLEANS — Loyola's Trenese Smith scored 11 points in a 16-0 run to open the game, and the Wolfpack cruised Wednesday to a 66-51 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory over Xavier University of Louisiana at The Den.
     Loyola (12-6 overall, 8-2 GCAC) ended Xavier's five-game winning streak and took sole possession of second place in the conference. The Wolfpack entered the game tied with Xavier and William Carey.
     Smith, the GCAC Player of the Year the past two seasons, finished with 22 points, including a season-high six 3-pointers. She made three treys during the Wolfpack's opening run.
     Smith's twin, Trenell, had 15 points and a season-high eight assists for the Wolfpack, and Christine Mainguy had 10 points and eight rebounds.
     Shayla Boyd scored 10 points for the Gold Nuggets (16-6, 7-3), and Johnna Williams had eight points and eight rebounds.
     Xavier cut Loyola's lead to 22-17 by the 16th minute but got no closer. Loyola led 33-20 at halftime, and three consecutive 3-pointers — two by Trenese Smith and the other by Trenell Smith — made it 47-33 with 12:09 remaining. The Wolfpack kept a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
     Loyola outshot the Nuggets 42 to 35 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 39-32. Xavier set a school record by making all 10 of its free throws — the previous best percentage was .933 against Louisiana College on Feb. 16, 1995.
     Xavier and Loyola split their two-game regular-season series for the third straight year. The Nuggets won 49-42 at The Barn last week.
     Xavier will play GCAC leader LSU-Shreveport, No. 21 in the NAIA Division I coaches poll, at 5 p.m. Saturday at The Barn. LSUS, which leads the conference by a half-game over Loyola, will play host to Tougaloo on Thursday.