Xavier stifles Langston in matchup of ranked NAIA teams
November 25, 2010

Box score

     NEW ORLEANS — Jasmine Grant scored 17 points Thursday to lead NAIA No. 22 Xavier University of Louisiana to a 62-47 women's basketball victory over No. 15 Langston in the Xavier Classic.
     The victory gives Xavier the second 7-0 start in the modern era of the program and its first since the 1980-81 season. The Gold Nuggets have won 16 straight at The Barn and 98 times in the last 104 games at their home facility.
     Grambling defeated Dillard 73-55 in the first game of the four-team event.
     Grant, a junior guard and the reigning Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, led all scorers with 10 first-half points. Marchelle Jones' basket at 12:49 of the first half snapped a tie at 9 and put Xavier ahead to stay, and the Nuggets led 29-23 at halftime.
     Christina Warren added 12 points and Angelica Alexander 10 for Xavier. Stephanie Madden recorded her fifth double-double of the season for Langston (4-3) and was the Lady Lions' only double-figure scorer.
     Madden's basket with 14:16 remaining closed Xavier's lead to 36-33. But Alexander scored six points in a 12-3 run over the next four minutes, and the Nuggets led by double figures for nearly all of the final 10 minutes.
     Xavier, the NAIA Division I leader in scoring defense, became the first team in four years to hold Langston to less than 50 points. Xavier outshot the Lady Lions 42 to 24 percent from the floor. Langston shot 20 percent from the floor (6-of-30) in the second half.
     Marchelle Jones led Xavier with five assists, and she and Grant had four steals apiece.
     Langston, the only opponent to beat Xavier twice at The Barn since 2002, defeated the Nuggets 69-66 in this event last season.
     In the opening game, Kristen Harper had 19 points and Tonishea Mack 13 to lead Grambling to its first victory of the season. The Lady Tigers (1-4) never trailed and opened with an 11-1 run.
     Jazzmin Smith scored 16 points and Ariel Mitchell 13 for Dillard (5-5), which counted the game as an exhibition. Grambling outshot Dillard 53 to 34 percent from the floor.
     Langston will play Dillard at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by Xavier vs. Grambling at 3. Two girls high school games — Lusher vs. Terrebonne at 11 a.m. and Helen Cox vs. Warren Easton at noon — will precede the college games.