Xavier’s Gold Nuggets making history with undefeated start

By: Kaleb Huggins, Contributor

January 06, 2025

The Xavier Women’s Basketball team is making history! For the first time in Xavier Title IX era, 47 seasons, the Women’s team has started 13-0. They are currently undefeated following their explosive conference win against Texas College in Tyler, Texas on January 2, 2025. In addition to making history, the Gold Nuggets are seated first in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) and #25 in the National Athletic Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national polls. 

“I felt like this summer was really Important!” said Robert “Bo” Browder, the Head Women’s Basketball coach. “We brought our transfers and freshmen’s in for workouts, and they seemed to get along well and that’s important when building team chemistry. The transfers acclimated to the system well, and they did a great job in sharing past experiences with players that were here last year.

Recruiting was a key emphasis for Browder and his staff going into the 2024-2025 Basketball season.  

“Now putting all that together, I think that’s why we are making a pretty big run,” said Coach Browder. 

Coach Browder believes chemistry is the foundation of their success. Coming together and being selfless has been beneficial for the Gold Nuggets this season. 

“We are very humble and happy about the situation that we are in, but we definitely know that it is not the end goal,” Coach Browder said.  

Coach Browder is proud of the success of his team but is cognizant of the shared endeavor: a conference championship and national championship run. 

“Consistency and discipline are huge parts of our winning formula and when you’re having success. We emphasize them because those are the easiest things to go out the window or labeled as trivial.” said Associate Head Coach Whitney Keller.  

In eight of the Women’s thirteen games, they held their opponents under 60 points. The consistency of the Gold Nuggets’ defense has allowed them to win games and become ranked in the national polls. 

“The main factor that contributes to us being 13-0 is that everyone has one common goal of winning a conference championship and making a run at Nationals. And that starts with going hard in practice and being prepared for every team we face,” explained Zaria Harleaux, a senior player.  

Xavier Women’s Basketball is set to play at home in the Xavier Convocation Center on January 7th against Texas College. The matchup between the Texas College Steers and the Xavier Gold Nuggets will tip off at 5:30PM CST. Following that game, they will travel to San Antonio, Texas to face off Texas A&M University-San Antonio. The conference game will start at 5:30PM CST. As of now, the team is dominating the Red River Athletic Conference and defending a 13-0 Record.