Box Score
MONTGOMERY, Ala.- The Belhaven women's basketball team gave 9th ranked Xavier University (LA) all it could handle Friday night at the Coaches' vs. Cancer Classic hosted by Huntingdon College, but a second half surge by the Gold Nuggets prevented any hopes of a Blazers upset. Belhaven enjoyed a 38-29 lead with just under 16 minutes to play before Xavier rallied back for a 63-47 victory.

Belhaven (5-7) was aggressive out at the outset and it paid off in the form of a 10-4 lead at the 14:33 mark of the first half. Senior Sarah Carr sunk a three point shot to give the Blazers their largest lead at that point in the contest. Xavier's (9-1) only lead in the first half occurred on the opening basket 16 seconds into the contest on a jumper by SiMon Franklin. With the exception of that field goal, Belhaven enjoyed the edge for the remainder of the first half, although the Gold Nugget's pulled to within one point on two separate occasions.

The Blazers created an 18-10 lead, their largest of the first half, on a layup by junior Erika Leflore with 5:53 to go until the break. Xavier closed the gap to one at 20-19 on a triple by Paige Gauthier at the 3:42 mark before Belhaven eventually controlled a 27-23 halftime lead on another bucket by Leflore with 48 seconds left until the break.

Things continued to look up for Belhaven at the beginning of the second half as the team established its largest lead of the night at 38-29 with 15:55 to play. However, Xavier turned the tables on the Blazers with an 11-1 run over the next six minutes that changed the complexion of the game. When the dust had settled, the Gold Nugget's found themselves with a 40-39 edge with just under 10 minutes to play thanks to a layup by Gautier.

Belhaven freshman Jacinda Smith briefly tied the game at 40-40 with 9:31 on the second half clock, but the Blazers could never recapture the lead. Xavier outscored Belhaven 23-7 the rest of the way to take home the win.

The Blazers were led by senior Ashley Wakefield with a game high 15 points against Xavier. Carr ended the night with nine points followed by Leflore with eight points and a game best seven rebounds. Senior Alisha Rayborn chipped in seven points with a team high three assists.

Belhaven knocked down 40.5 percent of its field goals (17-42), fired in 33.3 percent of its triples (3-9), and converted 47.6 percent of its free throw opportunities (10-21). The Blazers hurt themselves with 25 turnovers that led to 30 points for the Gold Nugget's. Belhaven was also outrebounded on the night 40-32.

Xavier had two players land in double figures with Andraquay Quinnine and Franklin who scored 12 and 10 points respectively. Quinnine also paced the Gold Nugget's on the boards with five rebounds while Whitney Gathright had five rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Xavier only hit 39.1 percent of its field goals (27-69), but shot at a 50 percent clip in the second half (17-34) to help spur the comeback. The Gold Nugget's went 3 of 15 from behind the arc (20 percent) and converted 6 of their 10 free throw opportunities (60 percent). Xavier gave the ball away on 17 turnovers leading to 15 Belhaven points.

The Blazers will wrap up the weekend tournament on Saturday when they take on Georgetown College (KY) at 7:00 PM.