HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — Rust made 14-of-19 3-pointers, six by Keimeshia Walker, and rolled Monday to a 92-72 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Xavier University of Louisiana.
     Walker scored a season-high 31 points for the Lady Bearcats (11-2, 2-0) who were 7-of-7 on 3s in the first half.
     Essence Wells scored 17 points, Kyla Duncan 11 and Abryhia Irons 10 for the Gold Nuggets (9-7, 0-2), who have lost four straight, the last three on the road. XULA was the GCAC regular-season champion a year ago.
     Shaelynn Moore's 3-point play at 3:48 of the first quarter gave XULA its largest lead, 11-7. Rust took the lead for good at 12-11 on Ebony Hargrove's 3-pointer. The Lady Bearcats led 22-16 after one quarter, 40-31 at halftime and built their advantage to 28 in the fourth quarter.
     Rust led by 20-or-more points for the final 14 minutes.
     Irons, a freshman, grabbed eight rebounds to lead XULA for the second consecutive game. Virgil's six assists and three steals matched her career highs.
     Tiamya Butler had 18 points and six assists for Rust, and Katie Blackmon and Ebony Hargrove scored 11 points apiece. Blackmon grabbed 13 rebounds to reach double figures for the fourth consecutive game and the ninth time this season.
     Rust outshot the Gold Nuggets 64.6 to 37.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 35-25. XULA committed a season-low eight turnovers.
     It was the Gold Nuggets' largest losing margin to a GCAC opponent since a 73-43 home decision against SUNO on Jan. 19, 2015. It was their largest losing margin in a GCAC road game since 83-59 at Philander Smith on Feb. 3, 2014.
     XULA will visit GCAC and city rival SUNO at 5:30 p.m. next Monday.