NEW ORLEANS — Freshman Carmen Holcombe scored a career-high 14 points Saturday and started a second-half run which carried NAIA No. 16 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 72-58 women's basketball victory over SUNO.
     The Gold Nuggets (23-6, 5-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) extended their conference regular-season win streak to 23 games.
     SUNO (18-3, 3-3) led 45-43 after Kelly Stewart's 3-pointer with 13:20 remaining, but Xavier took control with a 14-0 run during the next four minutes. Holcombe, who scored 12 second-half points, started the run with a putback basket, and Keldra Hall capped it with her 3-point play with 9:37 remaining. The Nuggets maintained their double-digit lead after Hall's points.
     Hall scored 12 points and Marchelle Jones 11 for Xavier, which became the second Louisiana school to reach 23 women's basketball victories in 10 consecutive seasons.
     Christine Conners scored 25 points and Stewart 13 for SUNO, which led 30-29 at halftime.
     Xavier outshot the Lady Knights 46.2 to 37.3 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 46-26. The Gold Nuggets extended their home win streak to 10 games and earned their 15th double-digit victory this season.
     SUNO never led by more than three points in either half, the last time with 16:59 remaining when Conners scored to make it 39-36.
     "There's nothing like beating a city rival," Xavier Coach Bo Browder said. "Our kids played really hard in the second half, and Carmen Holcombe was a bright spot."
     Xavier will close its regular season against another city rival, Dillard, at 5 p.m. next Saturday in the Crosstown Classic doubleheader at The Barn.