Gold Nuggets await Monday winner in GCAC Tournament
February 28, 2010

     NEW ORLEANS — A berth in the NAIA Division I National Championship and home-court advantage throughout the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament already belong to the Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball team. What the Gold Nuggets don't know yet is who they'll play in the GCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
     The Gold Nuggets, 25-5 and No. 19 in the NAIA coaches poll, will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Barn against the winner of Monday's first-round game at Belhaven between the Blazers and Dillard.
     Xavier was idle Saturday after concluding its regular season Thursday with a 65-55 home victory against SUNO. That made the Nuggets the second women's team in the GCAC's 29-year history to finish 18-0 in conference.
     Saturday's final four GCAC regular-season contests had no immediate effect on Xavier, which already knew its seeding, quarterfinal venue and potential opponents. The Nuggets clinched the regular-season title with three games remaining.
     The Belhaven-Dillard game will match the No. 8 and 9 seeds. The Blazers and Lady Bleu Devils tied for eighth place in the GCAC regular season, but Belhaven earned the higher seed and a home game by virtue of a 2-0 record against Dillard.
     The other Monday first-round game will match No. 10 Spring Hill at No. 7 SUNO.
     The top six seeds received byes into the quarterfinals, all scheduled for Wednesday. The tournament is being played on campus sites for the fifth consecutive year, and highest seeds host in each round.
     The Nuggets were 4-0 this season in games against Belhaven and Dillard with an average scoring margin of 19.5 points. The closest of the four games was Xavier's 54-45 victory at Belhaven on Feb. 11.
     If Xavier wins Wednesday, the Nuggets will play at 7 p.m. Friday in the semifinals at The Barn against fourth-seeded Tougaloo or fifth-seeded William Carey.
     The championship game will start at 7 p.m. March 8. Third-seeded Loyola is the defending champion and also won the tournament in 2007. Xavier won the tournament in 2008 and beat Loyola 65-64 in the final at The Den on a basket with seven-tenths of a second remaining.
     Xavier clinched an automatic bid to the NAIA Division I National Championship, which will begin March 17 at Jackson, Tenn., by winning the GCAC regular season. The GCAC Tournament champion also will receive an automatic bid to the national tournament — but if Xavier wins the conference tournament, that bid will go to the tourney runner-up.

Women's basketball
Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament

All games start at 7 p.m.
Highest seeds host in each round

First round / Monday, March 1
#9 Dillard (11-17) at #8 Belhaven (13-16)
#10 Spring Hill (3-25) at #7 SUNO (13-11)

Quarterfinals / Wednesday, March 3
Dillard-Belhaven winner at #1 Xavier (25-5)
SUNO-Spring Hill winner at #2 LSU-Shreveport (21-5)
#6 Mobile (17-11) at #3 Loyola (18-10)
#5 William Carey (14-14) at #4 Tougaloo (15-14)

Semifinals / Friday, March 5
Xavier-Dillard-Belhaven winner vs. Tougaloo-William Carey winner
LSU-Shreveport - SUNO-Spring Hill winner vs. Loyola-Mobile winner

Championship / Monday, March 8
Semifinal winners