HATTIESBURG, Miss. — TeAnna Carter scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Monday to lead William Carey to a 60-51 women's basketball victory over NAIA No. 12 Xavier University of Louisiana.
The Lady Saders (9-11) won their fifth in a row and snapped the seven-game win streak of the Gold Nuggets (21-5).
Carter recorded her first double-double since William Carey's opener. A 57-percent free-throw shooter entering the game, the junior guard made 13-of-14 from the line, 10-of-11 in the second half.
Megan Reynolds added 10 points and four steals for William Carey, which lost 56-41 at Xavier on Jan. 10.
Jamoné Kelly scored 15 points and
Brandi Young 13 for Xavier, and
Keldra Hall grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, nine in the first half.
Crystal Tucker's basket at 16:24 of the first half put William Carey ahead to stay. The Lady Saders led 30-23 at halftime and by 14 early in the second half before the Gold Nuggets rallied to within one point with 5:35 remaining.
But William Carey made 9-of-10 free throws in the final 3:30 to secure the victory.
"We didn't do a good job attacking the rim," Xavier Coach
Bo Browder said. "William Carey played a sagging man-to-man defense and doubled the post. We shot too many 3-pointers and put Carey on the line too many times."
Xavier outshot William Carey 37.7 to 34 percent from the floor, but the Lady Saders outscored the Gold Nuggets 25-7 from the line and outrebounded XU 40-30.
Christina Warren, who averaged 22.5 points in the Nuggets' previous two games, scored seven points, her fewest in 14 games.
Xavier moved up two places in the national poll less than two hours before the game started. The Nuggets will travel next to Tougaloo for a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game at 5 p.m. Saturday.