NEW ORLEANS, La. – Xavier (La.) scored 23 points off 30 Mountaineer turnovers, and the No. 14 Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team dropped a 66-52 decision on Saturday afternoon.

The Gold Nuggets got 47 points from their bench and overcame a 3-for-17 shooting fiasco in the first quarter to finish the contest 41.8 percent from the floor. 

Key Performances
Senior forward Nikki Osborne tallied 14 points and nine rebounds for EOU, while senior guard Jordan Klebaum netted 11 points, including three jumpers from beyond the arc. In addition, senior forward Madeline Laan and sophomore guard Payton Parrish recorded nine and eight points, respectively.

Joi Simmons anchored Xavier's effort with 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

The Storyline
Osborne and Klebaum netted jumpers in the opening three minutes to lift EOU to a 4-0 advantage. However, the Gold Nuggets responded with a 22-7 run over the next 12 minutes to snag a 22-11 lead with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.

Parrish drilled a pair of three's to cut the deficit to four (24-20), but Xavier (La.) closed the half with six unanswered to ride a 10-point lead into the locker room.

Despite shooting the ball better in the second half, the Mountaineers never got closer than seven and coughed up seven turnovers in the third stanza to fall behind.

Stats of the Game
47 – Bench points by the Gold Nuggets.
16 – Assists by EOU, a season-high for the Mountaineers.

Up Next
The Navy and Gold continues its two-game tilt down south on Monday against Southern (La.) in New Orleans at 6 p.m. CT.