NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, ranked 15th in NAIA Division I, made seven first-half 3-pointers Saturday and rolled to a 79-49 women's basketball victory against Spring Hill.
     Paige Gauthier scored 11 points and Whitney Gaston-Loyd 10 for the Gold Nuggets (2-0), who won their home opener for the 22nd consecutive season and extended their regular-season win streak to 14.
     Xavier took a 9-1 lead through four minutes on 3-pointers by Whitney Gathright, Gauthier and Taylor Norman. The Nuggets made 7-of-10 from behind the arc — Gathright and redshirt freshman center Kelsee Singleton were both 2-of-2 — to build a 41-21 halftime lead.
     Spring Hill (0-2) never got closer than 17 points in the second half. Xavier led by 34 points twice in the final six minutes.
     The Gold Nuggets finished 8-of-14 on 3-pointers and shot 50 percent from the floor, their most accurate game since the 2011-12 season. Thirteen Xavier players scored, including Vinnie Briggs with nine points and Gathright and Singleton with eight apiece.
     Gathright, who scored a career-best 19 in the Nuggets' opener a week ago, had a career-high eight assists and one turnover in 20 minutes against the Badgers.
     Corinne Missi scored nine points and was 4-of-4 from the floor to lead Spring Hill.
     Xavier limited the Badgers to 27.1 percent from the floor.
     The Gold Nuggets will visit Mobile at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Their next home game will start at noon on Nov. 23 against Texas College during homecoming weekend. Nine of the Nuggets' next 11 games will be on the road.