LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will look to snap its two-game skid and remain in third place in the Southland Conference standings as the Colonels take on McNeese State on Saturday, Feb. 28, in Burton Coliseum.
 
Tipoff is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. and the game will air live online on ESPN3. KNSU 91.5 FM will also carry the game, with pregame coverage slated to begin 10 minutes before tipoff.
 
After having its seven-game winning streak come to an end, Nicholls (14-11, 10-5 SLC) suffered its second consecutive loss with a 68-63 setback at last-place New Orleans on Thursday night. The game featured 17 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points, but it was the Privateers who came through with the clutch baskets down the stretch to spoil the Colonels' chances of moving up to second place.
 
The loss kept Nicholls a game behind Lamar in the loss column and three games back of first-place Stephen F. Austin. Nipping at the Colonels' heels for third is McNeese State (16-11, 10-6 SLC), which defeated Lamar on Thursday night, 98-77, and Northwestern State, also at 10-6 in league play.
 
After playing stifling defense during their winning streak, the Colonels allowed the opposition to score 68 points and shoot over 40 percent from the field in both losses. Sixty-five points seems to be the benchmark for the Colonel defense as the team is 12-2 this season when holding its opponents to 65 points or less. During the streak, Nicholls kept teams to less than 60 points in five of the victories.
 
On offense, despite behind held without a field goal in the loss at UNO, senior Jenny Nash leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game. Emani White, who along with Taylor Morrison scored a team-high 16 points off the bench Thursday night, increased her scoring average to 11.2 points following her second 16-point effort since returning from an injury. White and Morrison each hit four 3-pointers in the loss.
 
McNeese is coming out a high-scoring win over Lamar, which saw the Cowgirls come just two points shy of scoring 100. The backcourt duo of Allison Baggett and Jayln Johnson combined for 49 points in the victory. Baggett leads the Cowgirls in scoring at 17.0 points per game, followed by Johnson at 13.3.
 
In the Colonels' 11-point win over McNeese earlier this season, Nicholls bottled up the duo, holding them to just 13 points on 4 of 17 from the field. The Colonels were led by a career night from Nash, who finished with 26 points.
 
Although Nicholls has won the last three meeting, McNeese holds a commanding 53-17 lead in the all-time series. The Colonels, however, will be going for their third consecutive regular season sweep of the Cowgirls.