The Xavier women's basketball team will get a chance to avenge two losses in a single game when they take the court for the opening round of the Red River Athletic Conference tournament.
XULA (18-10, 14-8 RRAC) enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 LSU-A (14-13, 13-9) at 5:30 p.m. in the Convocation Center, with a trip to the RRAC semifinal at the Laborde Earles Coliseum, formerly the Rapides Parish Coliseum, in Alexandria on the line.
The teams split their regular season series with the Gold Nuggets winning 69-58 on Jan. 13 in New Orleans and the Generals winning 65-60 at home on Jan. 24.
Last year, LSU-A eliminated Xavier in the RRAC semifinals, although the Gold Nuggets still earned a berth in the 2025 NAIA national tournament and made an appearance in the Round of 16.
Both teams have some standout players.
The Generals both guard Syndey Person, whose 47.8% shooting from the field is fourth best in the conference. She also averaged 14 points and 5 rebounds per game.
In the low post, LSU-A's Justice Young has been effective, averaging 10 points and 7.6 rebounds, the latter total ranking 5th in the RRAC. LSU-A also boasts the 5th-best generator of assists in Reese Stephens.
Xavier has senior guard Tiarra Tillison, who not only is second in conference with 115 total assists, but also leads the RRAC in assist-to-turnover ratio. Tillison is also averaging 8.8 points per game.
The Gold Nuggets have been productive on the offensive boards; they are 8th best in the nation and lead the conference with 16.9 offensive rebounds per game.
Scoring has come from numerous sources for XULA.
Alicia Blanton is the top scorer with an average of 11.2 points per game, but six players are averaging at least 5 points per game.
The RRAC tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination structure in which teams are seeded based on their conference record. Xavier's quarterfinal game will be broadcast live on the XULA YouTube channel.
