Nov. 29, 2009

Final Stats

THIBODAUX, La. - Nicholls had three players in double figures in its come from behind 57-52 victory over Texas Southern on Sunday in Stopher Gym.

"I'm so very proud of the team for pulling through and fighting to get this win. We showed a lot of maturity today, and never panicked," said Head Coach DoBee Plaisance.

The Colonels (1-3) were led by true freshman Alisha Allen with 18 points in the win, while juniors Jamia Akins and Ricshanda Bickham each chipped in 12 and 11, respectively. Both Allen's and Akins' totals were career highs. Also establishing a personal best in rebounds was junior Raneisha Hunter with 11. Hunter also finished with eight points.

The Lady Tigers (1-4) had two players cross the decade mark, being led by Nadosha Strickland with 12.

"We played well as a team, this was a total team effort and a total team win," added Plaisance.

Nicholls fell behind early, having to climb back from a 10-0 deficit to start the game. Then the Colonels rallied to take a 16-15 lead at the 8:46 mark of the first half courtesy of a free throw from Hunter. Nicholls built its lead 29-21 at halftime, but Texas Southern was not done and came out in the second half on a 12-0 run to retake the lead.

However, the Colonels found their groove again in the second half, and battled back to take a 45-44 lead on a Bickham fast-break layup with under eight minutes left. Nicholls never trailed after that for the remainder of the game.

Texas Southern was better from the floor than Nicholls, shooting 37.3 percent (19-of-51) to the Colonels' 29.2 percent (19-of-65), and out-rebounded Nicholls, 47-to-42, but were empty from long-range, going 0-for-6 for the contest and committed 28 turnovers. The Colonels connected on 3-of-10 from downtown in the win, and only had 17 miscues.

Nicholls will be back in action on Tuesday at Grambling, while Texas Southern hosts SLC foe Texas State on Saturday.

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