Box Score
Jackson, MS- Belhaven women's basketball team defeated 15th ranked Xavier University (LA) in overtime Saturday night in Rugg Arena by the final score of 70-67. The win is Belhaven's first win against Xavier University since February 11, 1999 snapping a 16 game losing streak to the Gold Nuggets. The Blazers were able to capture their win with key turnovers by Xavier and outscoring the Gold Nuggets 11-8 in overtime. 

Belhaven (11-4) was led by Kiara Johnson who is averaging 11.9 points per game and dropped in 15 points Saturday with a team high seven assists. Following Johnson was Regena Jackson with 12 points while Erica Leflore added 11 points and a team high three blocks. Jessica Barlow turned in 10 points and a team high 10 rebounds while Sarah Carr chipped in 8 points and five assists. The Blazers forced the Gold Nuggets into 23 turnovers and outscored XU 40-30 in points in the paint. 

The Blazers managed to finish the game with a field goal percentage of 49.1% while holding the Gold Nuggets to 33.8% from the field. The game was a brawl all night with fifteen lead changes and the score was tied on 13 occasions. Xavier's largest lead of the night was seven while the Blazers largest lead was five points. 

Xavier (14-4) was led on the offensive end of the floor by Marchelle Jones with 17 points and a team high six assists. Jazmone Kelly turned in 14 points while Brandi Young dropped in 13 points. Paige Gauthier had 10 points while Kelda Hall was the team's leading rebounder with seven. The Gold Nuggets forced the Blazers into 26 turnovers scoring 25 points off those turnovers. The Golden Nuggets were able to out rebound the Blazers 43-39 with seventeen of those rebounds being offensive. 

Belhaven got off to a slow start allowing the Gold Nuggets to have an 11-4 advantage at the 14:45 mark of the first half. A layup by Kiara Johnson cut the lead to four 22-18 with just under nine minutes left in the first half and then Portia Tucker scored a layup to tie the game at 22 at the 5:02 mark. The Gold Nuggets Brandi Young hit a three with 33 seconds left in the first half to give Xavier a four point lead of 29-25 heading in to the break. 

Johnson jumped started the second half for the Blazers with a steal leading to a jumper by Jackson at 19:46 mark to cut the Xavier lead to two. A jumper by Johnson put Belhaven up by two at the 14:46 mark 37-35. Gauthier of XU hit a layup at the 8:12 mark to put the Gold Nuggets up one 45-44. Belhaven then went back on top and enjoyed their largest lead on a layup by Mycal Smith that put the Blazers up five 57-52 with just under 3:00 left. With just 1:04 left in the game, Xavier's Marchelle Jones got a steal and scored a layup to tie the game at 57. Jackson then hit a jumper with 47 seconds left on the clock to give the Blazers a two point lead, but 10 seconds later Brandi Young was fouled and hit two free-throws to tie the game up for the Gold Nuggets. At the end of regulation the score was 59-59 leading to overtime. 

At the 4:11 in OT Marchelle Jones hit XU's last field goal of the night to give the Nuggets a five point lead 64-59. Sarah Carr then hit a three to put the Blazers up one with 2:43 left only to see the Gold Nuggets pull back in front by one off free throws by Brandi Young making it 67-66. With 1:38 left the Blazers regained the lead on a layup by Johnson which was the turning point of the extra frame. The Blazers than sealed the deal with a steal by Sarah Carr with 39 seconds left and two made free throws by Jackson with just 11 seconds left on the clock. The Gold Nuggets final three point attempt to tie it with one second left was off the mark from Young giving Belhaven the win. 

The win brings Belhaven's season record to 11-4. The Blazers will be back in action Thursday as they open Southern States Athletic Conference play against Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, AL. Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM.