• Briefly: The Gold Nuggets set a school record with their seventh
consecutive appearance at nationals . . . Lambuth was the NAIA champion in 2007
but lost three double-figure scorers from that team . . . Bo Browder works his
300th game as the Nuggets' head coach . . . Xavier
has lost four in a row at nationals since a 64-55 first-round victory over another
Tennessee school, Trevecca Nazarene, on March 20, 2003.
• Series: Xavier leads 3-2. This will be the first meeting since
the opening round of the 2001 NAIA tourney. The scores:
Nov. 3, 1995 — Xavier 90, Lambuth 76 (at The Barn)
Dec. 9, 1995 — Xavier 71, Lambuth 58
Nov. 9, 1996 — Xavier 77, Lambuth 67 (at Jackson, Tenn.)
Nov. 14, 1997 — Lambuth 104, Xavier 102
March 15, 2001 — Lambuth 90, Xavier 63 (at Jackson, Tenn.)
• Rankings: Lambuth was 11th, and Xavier tied for 24th in the final
coaches poll announced March 5.
• Seedings: Xavier is sixth, Lambuth third in their
eight-team quadrant. There are 32 teams at the Division I tourney.
• In Conference: Xavier was 14-4 and finished second in the 10-team Gulf Coast
Athletic Conference. Then the Nuggets beat regular-season champion Loyola 65-64 for the tournament
championship . . . Lambuth was 14-4 and tied for second in the 10-team TranSouth Athletic
Conference, then lost 76-45 at Freed-Hardeman, the other second-place team,
in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
• Streaks: Xavier has won five straight and 10 of its past 11 games . . .
Although Lambuth lost at Freed-Hardeman in the TranSouth
semifinals, the Lady Eagles have won 14 of their past 16 games.
• Next: The Xavier-Lambuth winner will play Vanguard or
Cumberlands in the second round at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Vanguard and Cumberlands
will play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, immediately preceding the Xavier-Lambuth game.
Xavier never has played Vanguard or Cumberlands. The Nuggets are 8-11 against
the teams in their half of the bracket, including victories against Carroll (Mont.),
Harris-Stowe, Olivet Nazarene, Union (Tenn.) and Westmont.
• Most Recently: Freshman guard Shayla Boyd's basket with
seven-tenths of a second remaining March 11 gave second-seeded Xavier a 65-64 victory at top-seeded
Loyola in the championship game of the GCAC Tournament.
• Back in Tennessee: Three Nuggets — senior Patrice Hawkins of Columbia
and senior Jarryn Cleaves and freshman Ashley McGill of Memphis — return to
their home state for the tourney.
• Scoring Contrast: The Nuggets are No. 4 in Division I in scoring
defense (55.6), and Lambuth is No. 7 in scoring offense (79.2) . . . Lambuth
reached 80 points 14 times, and Xavier has not allowed 80 points in its past 43 games
(most recently: an 80-72 loss at Mobile on Feb. 8, 2007).
• Finally, a Groove: Jarryn Cleaves, the Nuggets' four-time all-conference guard
and an honorable-mention All-American this past season, was 4-of-35 from the floor and scored
11 points in her first 2½ games at nationals. But she finally warmed up in the second
half of the Nuggets' 2007 game against Carroll (Mont.), going 7-of-12 and scoring all 18 of
her points. Although Carroll won 56-50, Cleaves scored 15 points in the final 7:01 to carve
into a deficit which had been as large as 19 points.
• Aw, Shoot: The Nuggets shot a collective 33.8 percent
from the floor (136-of-402) in their past six games at the NAIA tourney. The best
performance of the six was 39.1 percent in a first-round victory over Trevecca Nazarene
in the 2003. The other five games, not surprisingly, were Xavier losses.
• In the Clutch: Four Nuggets on this season's roster have made winning shots in
the final 10 seconds. The list:
~ Shayla Boyd: 12-footer with seven-tenths of a second remaining beat
NAIA No. 15 Loyola 65-64 on March 11.
~ Brittany Whitmore: 3-pointer at the buzzer beat Belhaven 63-62 on Jan. 20, 2007.
~ Tiffany Norris: Basket with 1.5 seconds remaining beat NAIA No. 4
Montana Western 45-44 on Dec. 30, 2006.
~ Jarryn Cleaves: Layup with seven seconds remaining beat
Dillard 67-66 on Jan. 29, 2005.
• Also Notable:
~ Thirteen of Xavier's past 14 teams qualified for the NAIA tourney.
The exception was the 1999-2000 team. The streak does not include the 2005-06 season,
when Xavier suspended athletics in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
~ Xavier and Lambuth are among 10 Division I schools to qualify men's and women's
basketball teams for NAIA nationals in 2007 and 2008. The others are
Azusa Pacific, Cumberlands, Lee, Lewis-Clark State,
McKendree, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma City and Southern Nazarene.
|
|
|
Xavier Roster |
| No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| 10 |
Danielle Jones |
F |
5-10 |
Fr. |
Baton Rouge, La. |
| 11 |
Brittany Whitmore |
G |
5-4 |
Sr. |
Conway, Ark. |
| 12 |
Alissa Thompson |
G |
5-5 |
Sr. |
Houma, La. |
| 13 |
LaTashia Wise |
G/F |
5-10 |
So. |
Belle Rose, La. |
| 15 |
Jarryn Cleaves |
G |
5-8 |
Sr. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
| 20 |
Kojavona Hamilton |
G |
5-7 |
Sr. |
LaPlace, La. |
| 22 |
Shayla Boyd |
G |
5-6 |
Fr. |
Gonzales, La. |
| 23 |
Tiffany Norris |
F |
5-10 |
Sr. |
Fayetteville, Ga. |
| 30 |
Johnna Williams |
F |
6-0 |
Fr. |
Prairieville, La. |
| 34 |
Ashley McGill |
G |
5-4 |
Fr. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
| 43 |
Patrice Hawkins |
C |
6-0 |
Sr. |
Columbia, Tenn. |
| 44 |
Erica Turnbull |
F/C |
6-0 |
Sr. |
Baltimore, Md. |
| 52 |
Le'Keisha Lee |
F/C |
6-0 |
Fr. |
Angie, La. |
HEAD COACH:Â Bo Browder (Grambling 1994) . . . 220-79 in ninth season at Xavier
(1-7 at NAIA national tourney), 222-87 in 10th season overall
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH: Darrilyn Broussard (Xavier 1986), seventh season
|
|
Lambuth Roster |
| No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| 3 |
Chytearra Kintchen |
G |
5-5 |
Jr. |
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
| 5 |
Heather Scruggs |
G |
5-4 |
Jr. |
Trenton, Tenn. |
| 10 |
Yolanda Johnson |
G |
5-8 |
Jr. |
Las Vegas, Nev. |
| 14 |
Rachel Peery |
P |
5-9 |
Fr. |
Columbia, Tenn. |
| 20 |
Tammie Andres |
G |
5-2 |
Jr. |
Kapolei, Hawaii |
| 21 |
Kayla Bryant |
G/F |
5-8 |
Fr. |
Shelbyville, Tenn. |
| 23 |
Dee Preyer |
G |
5-8 |
Sr. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
| 24 |
Maegan Sanders |
G/F |
5-10 |
Fr. |
Fayetteville, Tenn. |
| 25 |
Katherine Snodgrass |
G |
5-6 |
So. |
Tucson, Ariz. |
| 30 |
Rachel Cunningham |
P |
6-0 |
Fr. |
Estill Springs, Tenn. |
| 32 |
Melissa Harrison |
G |
5-6 |
So. |
Christchurch, New Zealand |
| 40 |
Tara Robinson |
P |
6-1 |
So. |
Adelaide, Australia |
| 44 |
Donna Lavea |
P |
6-3 |
So. |
Christchurch, New Zealand |
| 52 |
Kristin Brison |
F |
5-10 |
So. |
Fairview, Tenn. |
HEAD COACH:Â Joe Reints (South Dakota State 2000) . . . 45-23 in third season at Lambuth
(5-0 at NAIA national tourney)
ASSISTANT COACHES: Abby Reedy, Becky Rogenmoser, Jeremiah Shirk
|
This Date in Gold Nuggets History
March 20, 1997
Cassee Davis had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Antasha Jones had 15 points,
eight rebounds and six assists to lead 12th-ranked Xavier to a 77-52 victory over LeTourneau
in the opening round of the NAIA national tourney at Jackson, Tenn. It was the third
consecutive year that the Gold Nuggets advanced to the sweet 16.
|
|
|
Jarryn Cleaves career rankings at Xavier
|
1st in games played (135)
1st in 3-point field goals (282)
1st in 3-point field-goal percentage (.361)
1st in 3-point field-goal attempts (782)
2nd in free-throw percentage (.757)
5th in points (1,731)
|
|
 |
|
|
Individual Leaders |
| Xavier Gold Nuggets |
Category |
Lambuth Lady Eagles |
| Jarryn Cleaves |
14.3 |
PPG |
Yolanda Johnson |
14.4 |
| Erica Turnbull |
6.0 |
REB |
Donna Lavea |
6.8 |
| Alissa Thompson |
2.3 |
AST |
Chytearra Kintchen |
4.2 |
| Erica Turnbull |
54.2 |
FG% |
Donna Lavea |
54.4 |
| Jarryn Cleaves |
78.5 |
FT% |
Yolanda Johnson |
81.1 |
| Tiffany Norris |
83 |
FTM |
Yolanda Johnson |
120 |
| Jarryn Cleaves |
35.1 |
3PT% |
Melissa Harrison |
50.0 |
| Jarryn Cleaves |
81 |
3PTM |
Kayla Bryant |
59 |
| Johnna Williams |
1.3 |
BLK |
Donna Lavea |
1.4 |
| Jarryn Cleaves |
3.3 |
STL |
Chytearra Kintchen |
1.8 |
|
