Box Score and Play-by-Play

THIBODAUX -  Three different Colonels scored in double figures, led by senior guard Ricshanda Bickham's 19 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a dominating performance on the boards by Sam Houston State (9-8, 3-0 Southland Conference) as the Nicholls State University women's basketball team (5-11, 0-3 Southland Conference) fell to the Bearkats 81-66 on Saturday in Stopher Gym.

The Bearkats outrebounded Nicholls 44-24.  Sam Houston State outscored the Colonels 36-24 in the paint, and the Bearkats' 16 offensive rebounds led to 12 second chance points.  Sam Houston State had a quartet of double digit scorers, led by 26 from Sequeena Thomas, as the Bearkats claimed a 17-point lead with nine and a half minutes remaining in the second half.

Down 58-41 with 9:26 left, the Colonels rallied to make a game of it.  Nicholls, which, in addition to Bickham's 19 points, saw double digit scoring output from sophomore forward Alisha Allen (11 points) and freshman forward LiAnn McCarthy (11 points), went on a 15-4 run to pull to within six.

However, after junior guard Sumar Leslie connected on a pair of free throws to make it 62-56 with 6:00 left, the Bearkats answered with a 14-3 run that pushed the lead back to 15 with 2:36 remaining.  The Bearkats would stay out in front the rest of the way.

The Colonels now face a stretch three road games in their next four outings.  Nicholls will hit the road to take on Central Arkansas (Jan. 19) and Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 22) before returning to Nicholls for a Jan. 26 contest against McNeese State as the first game of a women's-men's double header to be followed by the men's game against the Cowboys.