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| XU sophomore Whitney Gathright is the only Louisiana collegiate female this season with 40 made 3-pointers, 100 made free throws, 100 rebounds and 100 assists. She’s the only Gold Nugget in the program’s history to reach 40 made 3-pointers and 100 made free throws in the same season. |
The Lady Tigers (32-3) overcame an early nine-point deficit and withstood a second-half rally from the Gold Nuggets (24-10), whose season ended in the second round for the third time in four years.
Allen, a senior guard, finished with 15 points. Ellen Sholtes and Kristen Jacob scored 10 points apiece for the Lady Tigers, ranked fourth in the coaches poll and a No. 1 seed.
Xavier, ranked 20th in the poll and a No. 5 seed, got all but four of its points from three players. Whitney Gathright scored 19, Danielle Tucker 17 and Whitney Gaston-Loyd 15.
The Gold Nuggets made five of their first six shots from the floor, including a Gathright 3-pointer which gave them an 11-2 lead at 16:11. But during the next 12 1/2 minutes, Xavier was 2-of-21 from the floor and committed six turnovers to open the door for a 24-5 Campbellsville run.
"That stretch killed us," XU coach Bo Browder said. "We really struggled offensively."
Gathright made 1-of-2 free throws at 10:38 to give Xavier its final lead, 14-11. Allen's 3-pointer at 10:12 tied the score, and a Sholtes basket at 8:06 put Campbellsville ahead to stay, 18-16.
Allen capped the Lady Tigers' run with a 3-pointer at 3:48, and Campbellsville led 31-20 at halftime.
Campbellsville led by 15 early in the second half before Gathright made back-to-back 3-pointers in an 11-2 run to close the margin to 39-33. But the Gold Nuggets didn't move any closer until Gathright scored two baskets in the final 11 seconds.
Gathright, a sophomore guard, made three 3-pointers and also had four rebounds and four assists. Tucker's point total was her best in two XU seasons, and the senior forward led the Nuggets with eight rebounds. Gaston-Loyd, a senior center, grabbed six rebounds and, for the third consecutive game, reached 15 points or more.
It also was the final XU game for seniors Carmen Holcombe (four points, seven rebounds, two steals), Paige Gauthier (no points, six rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals) and Chelsea Broussard (no points, five rebounds, two steals).
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| The Gold Nuggets' Mount Seniormore of, from left, Whitney Gaston-Loyd, Paige Gauthier, Danielle Tucker, Chelsea Broussard and Carmen Holcombe. |
Xavier is 0-8 in second-round games at nationals, but this was the Nuggets' closest losing margin in that round -- the previous seven losses were by an average of 19.3 points.
"They say if you knock on the door long enough, it'll open for you," said Browder, whose teams are 4-13 at nationals. "We're going to keep knocking."
Campbellsville will take a nine-game win streak into a 4 p.m. EDT Saturday quarterfinal against Oklahoma City, a two-point overtime winner at home against Xavier on Nov. 29. The Stars advanced Friday with a 58-55 victory against Montana State-Northern.
NOTES: The Nuggets limited Campbellsville to their second-fewest points in a game this season. The Lady Tigers entered averaging 82 points . . . Xavier scored 22 points in the final 7:08 -- nine by Gathright and seven by Tucker . . . Tucker, who started her collegiate career at NCAA Division II's Gannon, produced 1,036 points and 608 rebounds in four collegiate seasons . . . Gauthier became the fifth in Nuggets history to reach 600 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals in a career . . Gathright's 417 points are the most by a Nugget in one season since Brittany Powell's 499 in 2009-10, and they're the most by an XU sophomore since Jarryn Cleaves' 425 in 2004-05 . . . Holcombe who averaged 4.2 rebounds per game during her career, averaged 7.8 rebounds in her final five games.
Box score
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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