JACKSON, Miss. — Brittany Powell scored 11 points and LaTashia Wise 10 Thursday to lead NAIA No. 21 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 54-45 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory over Belhaven.
     The Gold Nuggets (20-5 overall, 13-0 GCAC) won their 13th in a row, beat Belhaven for the 15th straight time and reached 20 victories for a school-record ninth consecutive season. Xavier extended a school record with its sixth consecutive game allowing less than 50 points.
     Powell's basket at 10:22 of the first half put Xavier ahead to stay, 9-8. Wise led the Nuggets with eight first-half points, including a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to give Xavier a 22-15 lead at the break.
     Belhaven's Jordin Mauk made a 3-pointer with 13:34 remaining to trim Xavier's lead to 29-28, but the Nuggets answered with a 15-3 run which included five points from Powell and Jasmine Grant's consecutive 3-pointers.
     Brittany Carr scored 12 points for Belhaven (13-11, 4-9), and Octavia Mullins had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
     The Blazers had a 48-34 rebound advantage, but Xavier outshot them 35 to 30 percent from the floor and gained 29 turnovers, nine more than the Nuggets committed.
     Xavier is the first women's college team in Louisiana to reach 20 victories this season. The Nuggets lead the GCAC by three games over LSU-Shreveport with five conference games remaining.
     Both teams will play GCAC games at 5 p.m. Saturday. Xavier will travel to William Carey, and Belhaven will play host to SUNO.