Box Score and Play-by-Play

DENTON, Texas -  After taking an 11-point lead into halftime, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team (2-6) fell victim to a second half surge from North Texas (3-9).  The Mean Green opened the second half with a 19-7 run to take their first lead of the half, then closed the game with a 10-2 run over the final 4:14 to claim a 61-56 win in a game that saw four tie scores and six lead changes on Monday night in Denton, Texas.

The Colonels were led by sophomore guard Alisha Allen who turned in 17 points off the bench on 6-for-14 shooting.  Allen led a group of Nicholls reserves that outscored the North Texas bench 25-4.  Senior guard Ricshanda Bickham added 13 points while going 7-for-7 from the line.  However, it wasn't enough to overcome a UNT offense that saw four scorers reach double figures.

The Mean Green was led by Denetra Kellum, who turned in a game-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting.  Jasmine Godbolt (13 points), Tamara Torru (13 points) and Brittney Hudson (10 points) also helped the Mean Green cause.

The Nicholls defense held the Mean Green in check early on as the Colonels racked up 11 steals and scored 20 points off of 21 North Texas turnovers.  However, UNT's interior play proved to make the difference as Nicholls was out-rebounded by the larger Mean Green front court 42-30.  North Texas snared 14 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second chance points.

The Colonels will return to action on Wednesday when they host Bethune Cookman at 5:00 p.m. in Stopher Gym.  The contest with Bethune Cookman will be the opener of a two-game homestand for Nicholls as the Colonels play host to Georgia State on Saturday before visiting the Tulane Doubletree Classic next week.