Emily Walvord scored 16 points, Xavier's defense limited Jefferson to 10 field goals and the No. 11 Saints beat the J-Hawks, 52-24, Friday night at the Jefferson gym.

Alex Saxen added 10 and Krissi Tow eight for Xavier (12-3, 8-3 MVC). The Saints are in second place in the Valley Division.

Sophomore Rachel Broghammer's 12 points led Jefferson (5-9, 4-7). The J-Hawks are in third place in the Valley Division.

Xavier Coach Tom Lilly said he wanted to establish an inside presence and , “continue developing a perimeter game,” that would help continue the progress that the Saints have been making.  He got significant rebounding help in the front line and a combined 34 points out of Walvord, Saxen and Tow. Walvoord more than doubled her scoring average (8.3). She was the 26th leading scorer in the league coming in.

For the second week in a row, defense was sharp for the Saints making it difficult for the J-Hawks to score.  Leading Jefferson scorer, Taylor Jacobson, 10th in the league in scoring and the best 3-point percentage shooter, was limited to one goal for two points.  Jacobson was coming off a career-high 27 points Tuesday in a win against Davenport Central.

Xavier has a makeup non-conference game in their gym on Saturday against No. 13 West Des Moines Dowling.  Jefferson's next game is Tuesday against Dubuque Wahlert.

In a major upset in the preliminary game, the Jefferson sophomores handed Xavier it first conference defeat, 50-32. Jefferson is 9-5 overall, 7-4 in the MVC. Xavier is 13-2, 10-1.

XAVIER (52): Kayla Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Winker 0 0-0 0, Annie Dale 3 0-1 6, Sarah Dickes 1 0-0 2, Alex Saxen 5 0-0 10, Rachel Wiltgen 1 0-0 2, Katlyn Andersen 1 0-0 3, Nicole Noonan 0 0-0 0, Emily Walvoord 8 0-1 16, Lisa Boomgarden 0 0-0 0, Krissi Tow 4 0-0 8, Alex Bartz 2 1-2 5.  Totals 25 1-4 52.

JEFFERSON (24): Dani Stromert 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Davidson 2 0-0 5, Madison Blietz 0 0-0 0, Ashley Madsen 1 0-0 3, Taylor Jacobson 1 0-2 2, Rachel Broghammer 5 2-4 12, Amber Grimm 0 0-0 0, Brittney Steffeny 1 0-0 2, Maddie Koolbeck 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 2-6 24.

Hallftime -- Xavier 25, Jefferson 18. 3-point goals -- Xavier 1 (Andersen), Jefferson 2 (Davidson, Madsen). Fouls -- Xavier 10, Jefferson 7.