BAYAMON, Puerto Rico — Senior forward Danielle
Tucker's season-high 15 points and 11 rebounds led Xavier University of Louisiana
in a 69-22 women's basketball victory against American University of Puerto Rico on Tuesday.
The Gold Nuggets (8-5) finished 2-0 on their trip to the
Caribbean island and extended their win streak to a season-high four games.
Tucker was 7-of-11 from the floor in 18½ minutes and recorded
Xavier's second double-double of the season, her first in two seasons with the Nuggets
and the fifth of her collegiate career.
Redshirt freshman
Kelsee Singleton scored 11 points —
her first time in double figures — and
Chelsea Broussard scored 10.
Freshman
Taylor Norman had five of her career-high six assists in the first half.
Kiara Rodriguez led American with 12 points.
Tucker scored nine points, and Broussard and Whitney
Gaston-Loyd scored six apiece to lead the Nuggets to a 40-11 halftime advantage.
Xavier outshot the Piratas 45.1 to 17.1 percent from the
floor and outrebounded them 61-24. It was the second straight game that the Nuggets reached 60 rebounds.
The Gold Nuggets allowed their second-fewest points of the Title
IX era. The XU women allowed 20 to Louisiana Christian on Nov. 3, 1994.
The winning margin was Xavier's largest since the 2012-13
opener and its largest on the road since November 2002.
It was Xavier's final game before Christmas. The Nuggets
will resume their schedule Dec. 30 in the Xavier Classic at the Convocation Center.
Faulkner will play LSU-Shreveport at 5 p.m. in the opening game, followed by Xavier vs.
Mobile at 7 p.m. Two more games will follow on New Year's Eve, including Xavier vs.
Faulkner in the finale at 5 p.m.