Final Stats THIBODAUX  – Trailing by seven at the break, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team erased the deficit four minutes into the second half, but a dominating performance inside from McNeese State keyed the Cowgirls to a 61-49 victory over the Colonels on Saturday evening at Stopher Gym.

With the loss, Nicholls falls to 13-14 overall. After today's completed Southland action, the Colonels hold the seventh spot with a 6-8 record and have the tiebreaker over Southeastern Louisiana, who improved to 6-8 with an upset victory over first-place Central Arkansas. Lamar, who is 7-6 in the SLC, will take on Sam Houston State at 7 p.m.

Junior Alisha Allen led the Colonels in the scoring column, finishing with 16 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, with six coming on the offensive end. Freshman Jenny Nash added 12 points and sophomore KK Babin rounded out the leaders with 11 points.

The Colonels held McNeese State (21-7, 11-3) to 39 percent from the field, but the Cowgirls rebounded over half of their misses with 22 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second-chance points. McNeese had two players record double-doubles; Martika Hull had a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds and Kendra Wells finished with 10 points and 18 rebounds, powering McNeese to a 47-34 edge on the boards and a 34-14 advantage in the paint.

McNeese never trailed in the game and after three early ties, used an 8-0 run to build a 16-8 lead with 12 minutes until the break. Nicholls answered with an 8-2 spurt capped on a jumper from Babin, but the Colonels headed into the intermission trailing 29-22.

In the second half, Nash drilled a 3-pointer to even the score at 32-all, but the Cowgirls regained the lead on their next possession with a bucket from downtown.

Leading 35-34 at the 15-minute mark, the Cowgirls stifled the Nicholls offense during the next 10 minutes, holding the Colonels to six points as they took a 53-40 lead. McNeese led by as much as 17 before going on to win its 10th-straight game against the Colonels.

Nicholls shot 33 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc, with Babin and Nash finishing with two 3-pointers each.

The Colonels held Caitlyn and Ashlyn Baggett to a combined 11 points, including a one-point 0-for-15 day from Ashlyn, who came into the game averaging 16.1 points. However, McNeese's inside play made up the difference and its reserves outscored Nicholls', 16-3.

The Colonels will play their final game at Stopher Gym on Wednesday night when they host Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. for a Redout Game. Fans are encouraged to wear red and can purchase the official redout shirt at nichollsgear.com.