NEW ORLEANS —
Xavier University of Louisiana took the lead for good
in the 28th minute Monday and earned an 81-76 women's basketball victory
against NAIA No. 25 city rival Loyola at The Den.
The Gold Nuggets are 5-0
for the second straight season, but the lineup this time is different.
First-year players
Lauren Banks,
Kam Shelley and
Joy Campbell, all
graduate transfers, combined for 54 points in XULA's first road
victory in five years against a top-25 opponent.
Campbell scored the final
points, two clinching free throws with three seconds remaining.
"I'm confident every time
I go to the line," said Campbell, a point guard who spent the past three seasons
at NCAA Division I Old Dominion. "I took a breath and knocked 'em in."
Campbell's 16 points and nine
assists were season highs. Shelley and Banks scored 19 points apiece,
and Shelley's points and five made 3-pointers were season highs. Returning letterwinner
Patricia Sosa Lora produced her
second double-double of the season, 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Campbell scored 14 second-half points.
"Tonight was a great night on
the road against a well-established program," 26th-year XULA head coach
Bo Browder said.
The Wolf Pack (2-3) had four double-figures scorers, including Deniya Thornson with 16
points and Alissa O'Dell with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
XULA trailed 30-21 through 13 minutes,
but scored the next 10 points and never trailed by more than five points thereafter.
Shelley's 3-pointer at 2:47 of the third quarter put the Gold Nuggets
ahead to stay at 56-54.
"We're starting to gel and look more like a team,"
Campbell said. "We're working to get the chemistry right. We're trusting each other more,
and we're trusting our coaches more."
The victory was XULA's 19th in its last 22 games dating to last season.
XULA will bus to Texas Wednesday for Red River Athletic
Conference games at North American on Thursday and Huston-Tillotson on Saturday.
The Gold Nuggets are 2-0 in the RRAC.
