Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. –  The Nicholls State University women's basketball team led by as much as 21 in the first half against Southeastern before the Lady Lions fought back to come within two in the final seconds, but the Colonels never surrendered the lead as Nicholls held on for a 69-65 victory at Stopher Gym on Saturday.

With the win, Nicholls improves to 14-8 overall and 6-5 in the Southland. The Colonels are one win shy of tying the program single-season record, which was set last season. Southeastern falls to 9-13 and 2-9 in conference and were swept by Nicholls for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

Senior Alisha Allen continued her stellar play at home, scoring a game-high 18 points of 7-of-12 shooting. In seven contests at Stopher this season, Allen is averaging 18.4 points and shooting 54.6 percent from the field.

Also scoring in double figures for Nicholls was Emani White, who scored 12 of her 14 in the first half, and Jasmine Scott, who had 14 points and four steals.

Nicholls started off the game with back-to-back 3-pointers by KK Babin and Jenny Nash en route to hitting six from behind the arc in the first half. The Colonels led 26-19 with five minutes to go before a 3-pointer by White sparked a huge run to close the half.

In the final five minutes of the first period, Nicholls outscored Southeastern 17-4 to take a commanding 43-23 point lead into the locker room. The Colonels shot 59 percent in the first stanza and had 11 assists on 17 field goals.

But the second half was a different story as the Lady Lions opened up with a 7-0 run. Southeastern then came within single digits at the 11:46 mark after a pair of free throws by Jameika Hoskins put the score at 49-41.

SLU made it a one possession game with eight minutes remaining, but the Colonel bench came through to push the lead to 58-50. Hope Pawlowski came up with a bucket and a free throw before Scott snuck behind the press for a layup. Scott finished the day 7-of-11 from the field.

Down the stretch, the Colonels continued to hold a slight edge, leading by four with a minute remaining. The teams traded free throws before Symone Miller converted on an offensive rebound for SLU, putting the score at 67-65. Allen then sank both free throws for Nicholls with 11 seconds left, making the final 69-65.

Southeastern had the rebounding advantage, 40-32, but scored only eight second chance points off of 15 offensive rebounds. Brandi Simmons led SLU with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Colonels return to the court on Thursday as they host Stephen F. Austin at 5:30 p.m. The Ladyjacks defeated Nicholls earlier this season,  74-66. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.