Gold Nuggets bid seniors farewell at final game
March 17, 2023
The Xavier Gold Nuggets ended their regular season with a celebration of their graduating senior players. They honored four players: Nia Bishop, Nina German, Abryhia Irons, and Ashanti Lavergne. The ceremony occurred after the Gold Nuggets final season game against the Texas A&M-Texarkana Eagles on Feb. 17. The Eagles defeated the Gold Nuggets, ending their five-game win streak 62-53. However, the seniors led the team on the floor, with Irons scoring 17 points, Bishop scoring 13 points, German having five steals, and Lavergne grabbing eight rebounds.
“I feel very accomplished. We’ve accomplished a lot in the past five years I’ve been here. We won a tournament championship, regular season championships my freshman and junior years, along with my senior year” said German, a biology major from Jackson, Miss. “Hopefully, we can finish it out strong with another tournament win this year.”
The team finished fifth in the Red River Athletic Conference after being voted to the top of the RRAC preseason coaches’ poll. However, Abryhia Irons still made headlines for the Gold Rush with her record-breaking season. Irons was voted player of the week for the RRAC and also is the fourth Gold Nugget to reach 600 points, 500 rebounds, and 200 assists in her career at Xavier.
“On the court, basketball has helped me gain a lot of patience and a lot of maturity. It has leveled and settled my head a lot,” said Irons, a biology major from Boutte, La. “Off the court, it has given me a lot of opportunities whether it’s connections or job opportunities, it has helped me a lot to further myself in life,” Irons said.
The Gold Nuggets were led this year by veteran head coach Robert ‘Bo’ Browder, who is in his 24th year as head coach and has over 500 career wins at Xavier.
“I really appreciate these ladies and all of their hard work on the court but also off the court. They’re all gonna graduate and go on to do extremely well in their professions, and that’s why they decided to come to Xavier because that’s what we do. We win on the court, and we win off the court. It’s about the life lessons we teach here,” Browder said.
The Gold Nuggets played Feb. 24 in the RRAC Tournament quarterfinals at Alexandria, La., winning in the first round against Our Lady of the Lake.
“I’m excited about the post-season. I think this team still has one more gear to get to,” Browder said. “Like y’all young folk say, there’s another level … we can clean up some of our mistakes and have a great opportunity to play and win a conference championship.”
