Lady Generals start fast, hold strong vs. Xavier
New Orleans, La. – The #23 LSUA women’s basketball team jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter over (RV) Xavier and held off a fourth quarter rally for a 74-63 win over the Gold Nuggets Wednesday night at the Xavier Convocation Center.
| W-L | TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | #23 LSU Alexandria (La.) | 24 | 18 | 10 | 22 | 74 |
| 5-3 | (RV) Xavier (La.) | 9 | 11 | 20 | 23 | 63 |
How It Happened:
The Generals started quick, scoring the game’s first nine points as Kelsey Thaxton drained a jump shot for the 9-0 lead. That lead quickly ballooned to double digits as a three-pointer by Thaxton made it 15-3 with just more than four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Courtney Dawsey bumped the lead to 20 points with a three-point play that made the score 24-4 with less than 1:30 left in the quarter. LSUA got its largest lead of the game with 2:30 left in the second quarter as a Ciera Daniels bucket gave the Generals a 39-15 lead. LSUA led 42-20 at halftime. The lead got back up to 24 points early in the third quarter as Daniels got a lay-up for a 46-22 lead just 90 seconds into the second half. But from there, Xavier slowly started cutting into the lead, getting it all the way down to five points with less than a minute left in the game, but free throws down the stretch put the game away.
Coach’s Take:
“We went with a little different game plan than usual,” said LSUA head coach Bob Austin. “The team bought in and executed it well. Halftime cooled our shooting down a bit, but we made the free throws when we needed to secure the win. Ciera [Daniels] is really playing well as of late and had another quality performance tonight with another double-double.”
Other Key Statistics:
After picking up a double-double in the exhibition game at Louisiana Tech, So. F Ciera Daniels picked up her first official career double-double as a General with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She was eight of 14 from the field and hit five of her six free throw attempts.
So. G Kelsey Thaxton hit seven shots, including three three-pointers, for 17 points.
Sr. G Courtney Dawsey went five of eight from the field, and hit her only three-point attempt to finish with 16 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
LSUA hit 58.6% of their shots in the first half and finished the game hitting 47.3% overall. Defensively, the Generals held Xavier to 35.7% shooting as LSUA ended the Gold Nuggets’ 16 game home win streak.
Next Game:
The #23 Generals (1-1) play come home for the first time in the 2019-20 season this Saturday, November 16th, for a top 25 battle when #24 Loyola – New Orleans comes to Alexandria. Tip-off against the Wolf Pack (2-0) is set for 2:00 P.M. in The Fort.
