Blue Raiders walk on Waters, rally past Gold Nuggets
January 2, 2010

Box score

     NEW ORLEANS — Sophomore reserve Lindsey Waters made the go-ahead free throws in the final minute and had two steals during a 10-0 run in the final 6:22 to rally Lindsey Wilson to a 53-51 women's basketball victory over Xavier University of Louisiana.
     The Blue Raiders (9-3), playing for the first time in two weeks, limited the Gold Nuggets (7-4) to a season-low 30 percent from the floor and their fewest points of the season.
     Waters' free throws with 51.9 seconds remaining gave Lindsey Wilson a 52-51 lead — its first lead since the opening minute of the second half. Waters stole the ball under Xavier's basket with two seconds remaining, forcing Xavier to foul and putting Sierra Rambert on the line, where she made the first of two free throws for the Blue Raiders' final point.
     Xavier called a timeout after rebounding Rambert's miss, then Jasmine Grant missed a 3-pointer from 25 feet as time expired.
     Rambert scored 15 points and Michelle Copley 11 for Lindsey Wilson, and second-team NAIA All-America center Viktoria Krell had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Waters scored six points.
     Brittany Powell scored 13 points and Jazmoné Kelly 10 for Xavier, which lost three of four games this week after leading by double digits. The Nuggets' four losses this season are by a total of 12 points.
     Powell's layup at 6:22 gave Xavier a 51-43 lead, but the Nuggets went 0-of-8 from the floor and committed five turnovers — three in a row by SiMon Franklin — in their final 11 possessions.
     Xavier twice held 11-point leads in the first half, the second time after LaTashia Wise's basket made it 17-6 at 8:02. Then Copley and Diondra Anthony made 3-pointers during a 14-2 run which gave the Blue Raiders their first lead, 20-19 at 3:34. The teams were tied at 24 at halftime.
     Lindsey Wilson shot 38 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Nuggets 44-38. But the Blue Raiders also committed 24 turnovers, seven more than Xavier.
     Xavier, playing at home for the first time in 36 days, was 1-of-14 from 3-point range. The Nuggets have dropped two straight at The Barn for the first time since February 2002. Xavier entered Saturday's game with 80 victories in its past 84 games in its campus gym.
     This game matched the top two teams among the "others receiving votes" in the most recent NAIA Division I coaches poll (Dec. 14). Lindsey Wilson is No. 26, and Xavier is No. 27. The next poll will be released Jan. 11.
     Both teams will play at 1 p.m. Sunday against ranked NAIA opponents. Xavier will play No. 10 Campbellsville at The Barn, and Lindsey Wilson will remain in the city to play No. 21 Loyola at The Den. Campbellsville improved to 12-1 with an 83-73 victory at Loyola on Saturday.