Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – Sophomore Emani White matched her career-best with 33 points and the Colonel defense held McNeese State scoreless over the final five minutes as the Nicholls State University women's basketball team defeated the Cowgirls 76-66 on Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.

In a game that saw an astounding 21 ties and 32 lead changes, the Colonels (14-11, 9-5) managed to pull away late by scoring the contests' final 12 points. White, who shot 11 of 19 from the field, gave Nicholls a 73-66 on her final bucket of the night with 1:46 remaining. Jenny Nash then put the game away with a 3-pointer to give Nicholls a regular season-sweep of McNeese (15-10, 8-6) for the second consecutive year.

Nicholls had only seven turnovers in the win and outscored the Cowgirls in points off turnovers, 24-4. McNeese gave the ball up 18 times on the day, leading to seven steals by Nicholls.

Normally relying on the 3-point shot, the Colonels attempted only 11 from downtown as they finished with a 45 percent field goal percentage. White and KK Babin, who was the only other Colonel in double figures with 17 points, faced little resistance in their mid-range game, hitting jumper-after-jumper . In the second half, White was unstoppable in taking the ball to the rim, scoring 20 points on six field goals and eight free throws.

Despite McNeese having a significant rebounding advantage for the game at 48-30, Nicholls never trailed by more than four points. The lead changed 15 times in the first half; with the Cowgirls taking a 36-35 lead into the locker room.

The teams went back-and-forth in the second period for the first 15 minutes, until the Colonel defense smothered McNeese, much like the previous meeting in Lake Charles on Jan. 21 which Nicholls held McNeese to 37 percent from the field.

Along with adding five points, Nash collected a team-high nine rebounds. Taylor Morrison and Jasmine Scott chipped in with eight points each.

McNeese had four players score in double figures, led by Jayln Johnson with 15. Cecilia Okaye had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Nicholls will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 27, at home against Abilene Christian. Tipoff at Stopher Gym is scheduled for 2 p.m.