The Gold Nuggets jumped out to an early eight point lead when a Tiffany Norris basket made it 13-5 Xavier five minutes into the contest.
The Wolfpack ran off 22 of the game’s next 26 points, including a 15-0 run to give the Wolfpack the largest lead of the game at 27-17 with under 3:30 to play in the opening half following a Kim Rigg bucket. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the half and after two Tiffany Norris free throws the Wolfpack went to the locker room sporting a 33-26 advantage.
Xavier scored the second half’s first nine points with an Erica Turnbull free throw giving the Gold Nuggets a 35-33 lead.
Kiely Schork’s trey on the Wolfpack’s ensuing possession gave Loyola the lead back at 36-35 with 17:00 left.
The Wolfpack steadily grew the lead to seven points following a Trenell Smith steal and fastbreak lay in that made the score 48-41 in the Wolfpack’s favor.
Xavier whittled into the Wolfpack advantage and tied it at 57-57 with a Jarryn Cleaves fastbreak bucket with 3:30 to go.
Loyola got the lead back after a Trenese Smith lay in on a handoff from Christine Mainguy, but Erica Turnbull tied it right back up on the Gold Nuggets next opportunity with a lay in and a 59-all score with 3:00 left.
Trenese Smith gave the Wolfpack a five point lead again when she scored while being fouled by Tiffany Norris, hitting the ensuing free throw to make it 64-59 with 1:15 to play.
Xavier’s freshman guard Shayla Boyd scored the game’s last six points, including the game winner. Boyd finished with eight points on the night.
The Wolfpack (26-6) was led by the Smith sisters as Trenese picked up her fifth double-double on the year with 26 points and ten rebounds. Trenell scored 24 in the loss. Christine Mainguy grabbed a game high 11 boards.
Alissa Thompson led the Gold Nuggets (27-6) with 22 points while Tiffany Norris put in 14 points.
The Wolfpack will now await the announcement of the NAIA National Championship Tournament seedings and bracket, which will be released Wednesday afternoon. The NAIA National Championship Tournament will be held March 19-25 at the Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee.
Helpful links:
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu/giving
http://gcaconf.com
http://naia.org
http://loyolamaroon.com
http://blog.nola.com/wolfpack/
Subscribe to all the latest Wolfpack news at: http://wolfpack.loyno.edu/packbackers_newsletter.php
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