Four NCAA D1 foes on Xavier’s women’s hoops schedule

NEW ORLEANS — Not only will Xavier University of Louisiana women’s basketball play four NCAA Division I opponents in 2018-19, but the Gold Nuggets also will do it over five games in 19 days.

Those are some of the highlights of a schedule that 20th-year head coach Bo Browderannounced Wednesday. XULA is a longtime NAIA power.

Two of the DI teams will visit XULA’s Convocation Center — Auburn on Nov. 28 and North Texas on Dec. 16. XULA will play Auburn for the second straight season and begin a two-year series with North Texas.
The other DI games will be Nov. 30 at Southeastern Louisiana and Dec. 15 at Louisiana-Lafayette. XULA and the Ragin’ Cajuns will meet for the sixth straight season.

Additional highlights will include five games against 2018 NAIA national tournament qualifiers, two during a season-opening four-game home stand. The Gold Nuggets will open their 41st season of the Title IX era on Halloween evening against Stillman, an NAIA tournament qualifier a year ago. City rival Loyola, which reached the national round of 16, will visit Nov. 6.

The other NAIA tournament qualifiers on the schedule are Nov. 10 at Our Lady of the Lake and Gulf Coast Athletic Conference meetings with Dillard Jan. 26 at home and Feb. 16 on the road.
GCAC rival Edward Waters, a 25-game winner last season, will visit XULA Jan. 19 and play host to the Nuggets Feb. 4.

“We are looking for an outstanding season,” Browder said, “which means challenging for the conference championship, getting back to nationals and winning some games there. I feel very good about our recruiting class and our returning players. We have talented freshmen and some transfers who will step up and make an impact. We will be solid and deep at the guard position.”

The Xavier Classic will move to its earliest-ever dates, Nov. 2-3. The Nuggets will play Florida Memorial the first day and Langston the second. LSU-Alexandria will be the fourth team.

The Nuggets will take a warm-weather trip Thanksgiving week. They’ll visit Florida Memorial, then play two games in a tournament at the University of the Virgin Islands.

There will be no first-time opponents. SLU is on the schedule for the first time since 1988-89, and North Texas appears for the first time since a pair of XULA victories in 1980-81. Rust became the eighth GCAC member in July, and the Nuggets will play them twice.

The GCAC Tournament will be March 1-3 in Jacksonville, Fla. followed by the NAIA Division I National Championship March 13-19 at Billings, Mont. XULA seeks to qualify for nationals for the 20th time in 25 seasons. The Gold Nuggets missed nationals last season for the second straight year after going 15-12 overall, 7-5 in the GCAC (tied for third place) and reaching the semifinals of the GCAC Tournament.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, tickets for home games will be available online at xulatix.com.

NOTES:  It will be the first time since the 2012-13 season that the Nuggets open with four straight home games . . . XULA will count the Auburn and North Texas games as exhibitions . . . Browder’s 446 victories at XULA are No. 3 on the all-time Louisiana collegiate list for women’s basketball coaches . . . This will be the Nuggets’ seventh season in the Convocation Center, where they are 72-17.

Xavier University of Louisiana
2018-19 Women’s Basketball Schedule
Oct. 31 (Wed.):  STILLMAN, 6 p.m.
Nov. 2 (Fri.):  FLORIDA MEMORIAL, 6 p.m. (Xavier Classic)
Nov. 3 (Sat.):  LANGSTON, 4 p.m. (Xavier Classic)
Nov. 6 (Tue.):  LOYOLA (N.O.), 6 p.m.
Nov. 10 (Sat.):  at Our Lady of the Lake, 7 p.m.
Nov. 12 (Mon.):  at LSU-Alexandria (DH), 5 p.m.
Nov. 19 (Mon.):  at William Carey (DH), 5 p.m.
Nov. 21 (Wed.):  at Florida Memorial, 7 p.m. EST
Nov. 23 (Fri.):  at Virgin Islands Tournament, TBA
Nov. 24 (Sat.):  at Virgin Islands Tournament, TBA
Nov. 28 (Wed.):  AUBURN, 6 p.m.
Nov. 30 (Fri.):  at Southeastern Louisiana, 6 p.m.
Dec. 3 (Mon.):  MOBILE, 6 p.m.
Dec. 15 (Sat.):  at Louisiana-Lafayette, TBA
Dec. 16 (Sun.):  NORTH TEXAS, 4 p.m.
Dec. 18 (Tue.):  VIRGIN ISLANDS, 1 p.m.
Jan. 3 (Thu.):  at LeMoyne-Owen, TBA
Jan. 7 (Mon.):  •  TOUGALOO (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 12 (Sat.):  •  at Rust (DH), 3 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Mon.):  •  at Philander Smith (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 19 (Sat.):  •  EDWARD WATERS (DH), 3 p.m.
Jan. 21 (Mon.):  •  at Tougaloo (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 26 (Sat.):  •  DILLARD (DH), 3 p.m. (Crosstown Classic)
Jan. 28 (Mon.):  •  at SUNO (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 2 (Sat.):  •  at Talladega (DH), 3 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Mon.):  •  at Edward Waters (DH), 5:30 p.m. EST
Feb. 11 (Mon.):  •  TALLADEGA (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 16 (Sat.):  •  at Dillard (DH), 3 p.m.
Feb. 18 (Mon.):  •  SUNO (DH), 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 23 (Sat.):  •  RUST (DH), 3 p.m.
Feb. 25 (Mon.):  •  PHILANDER SMITH (DH), 5:30 p.m. (Senior Day)
March 1-3 (Fri.-Sun.):  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, Jacksonville, Fla.
March 13-19 (Wed.-Tue.):  NAIA Division I National Championship, Billings, Mont.

Home games in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS
•  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference game
(DH) Doubleheader with XULA’s men
All times are Central except where noted
Schedule is subject to change
Visit xulatix.com beginning Monday (Aug. 27) to purchase tickets for all XULA home events.