Jan. 28, 2009

Final Stats

THIBODAUX, La. - McNeese State knocked down 12 from behind the arc, and had 21 second chance points in their 87-66 victory over Nicholls on Wednesday night in Stopher Gym.

The Colonels held `Stuff Stopher Night' in conjunction with `Academic Night,' and had the largest crowd since the 1998-99 campaign with 508 in attendance. Nicholls also honored 100 student-athletes during halftime who had achieved a 3.0 GPA or better in the 2008 fall semester.

In the game, Nicholls (0-17, 0-6) was led by senior Christie Bryant with a career-high 24 points, and following her into double digits were fellow seniors Dominique Washington and Tiffany Jones with 13 and 10, respectively. Bryant finished with an impressive 8-of-16 showing from field goal range and 8-of-14 from the charity strip, but it was not enough to lift the Colonels to victory.

The Cowgirls (10-8, 2-3) had four players in double-digits, and were led by freshman Ashlyn Baggett with 21 points. Baggett was deadly shooting, making 5-of-8 from three-point range to go along with four assists and three steals.

The Colonels and Cowgirls both started the game slow offensively, with neither team scoring double-digits for the first nine minutes of the game, however, McNeese State caught fire and went on a 19-3 run to build a 24-9 lead with 8:48 left.

Despite the Colonels early offensive misfortunes, Nicholls climbed back into it and went into the locker room at halftime trailing by 12 points, 45-33, after being down by as many as 18 in the first half.

However, the Cowgirls continued on their shooting tirade in the second half to lead by as many as 24 points, 69-47, with 8:52 left in the game. For the contest, McNeese State shot 53.2 percent (33-of-62) from field goal range and 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from three-point land.

Nicholls put forth its best numbers of the season from the floor, shooting 46.3 percent (25-of-54), but struggled from downtown with a 28.6 percent (2-of-7) showing. The Colonels only two makes from behind the arc were from true freshman reserve Portia Washington who finished with eight points.

The Colonels will remain at home as they host Southeastern La. in Stopher on Saturday at 2 p.m., while the Cowgirls will play at Stephen F. Austin.

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