Box Score and Play-by-Play

NEW ORLEANS -  Sumar Leslie led the Colonels with a game-high 24 points and senior guard Ricshanda Bickham added 17, but it wasn't enough for the Nicholls State University women's basketball team (5-7) as the program's longest winning streak in eight years came to an end with an 84-65 loss to Tulane (9-2) in the opening round of the Tulane/Doubletree Classic on Wednesday at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans.

The Colonels entered the contest looking to build on the momentum of a three-game winning streak.  Once again, Nicholls found itself facing an opponent with an interior size advantage, so the Colonels relied on their superior outside shooting to keep them in the game.

For the third consecutive game, and the fifth time in 12 contests this year, the Colonels connected on double-digit three point attempts.  Nicholls sank 10-of-27 treys after tying a school record with 12 threes on Dec. 21 at Southern and draining 11 from beyond the arc on Dec. 18 against Georgia State.

Bickham led the way by going 4-for-10 from three-point range.  Freshman guard KK Babin connected on 3-of-10 attempts, Leslie went 2-for-4 from three, and Cassie Hearon sank her only three point attempt of the afternoon.

Leslie's pair of three pointers was part of a 7-for-18 performance from the floor.  In her fourth game in a Colonel uniform, Leslie also went 8-for-9 from the free throw line en route to her game high of 24 points, while also picking up nine steals on the defensive end.  Leslie's nine swipes finished one shy of the school record held by three different Colonels: Deandra Walter vs. Centenary, 1/10/00; Arrianna Smith (Martin) vs. Ball State, 12/1/90; and Niccie McKey vs. LSU-Alexandria, 1978-79.

Leslie's nine steals were part of a Nicholls defensive effort that recorded 17 steals and forced 26 turnovers that led to 28 Colonel points.  the Colonels also hung tough in the rebounding battle as Hearon came away with a game-high nine rebounds and Nicholls snared ten offensive boards (to just six for th that led to five second-chance points for Nicholls.

However, it wasn't enough to keep pace with a high powered Tulane offense.  The Green Wave lived up to their averages of five double-digit scorers per night as five different players totaled ten or more points for the Wave.  Tiffany Aidoo led the way with 20 points.

Tulane outscored the Colonels 44-14 in the point in took a 40-26 edge in the rebounding battle.  The Green Wave combined to shoot 64.0 percent (32-for-50) from the field en route to a 9-2 record.

Nicholls will now face off against the Charlotte 49ers in the consolation game of the Tulane/Doubltree Classic.  The 49ers had their seven-game winning streak snapped by losing to perennial women's basketball power Old Dominion in the second game of the tournament on Wednesday.  Charlotte still boasts an impressive 10-3 record heading into the matchup with the Colonels.  Tipoff for the consolation game between the Colonels and 49ers is set for 1 p.m. on Thursday at Fogelman Arena.