SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After closing out the first half of its conference schedule with three straight victories, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team added one more win to the streak as the Colonels swept a home-and-home series against Incarnate Word with a 69-58 victory on Wednesday night at the McDermott Center.
With the win, Nicholls climbed over .500 for the first time this season, improving to 11-10 overall and 7-3 in Southland play. The loss was the fifth consecutive for UIW (5-15, 2-7) and dropped the Cardinals to 0-3 all-time versus the Colonels.
The Colonels led the entire game, but UIW made a ferocious comeback in the middle of the second half to tie the game at 45-all. Nicholls saw a 44-36 advantage quickly evaporate over two minutes as UIW put together a 9-1 spurt. However, the Colonels made six consecutive free throws to regain the lead and went on to outscore UIW, 23-4, to put the game away.
Jenny Nash led all scorers with 16 points and
Tia Charles was right behind with 15. The duo combined to shoot 10 of 17 from the field as Nicholls shot 43 percent on the night.
Veronica Ryan came off the bench for 11 points,
Shay Arnick added nine and
Emani White chipped in with eight. White heads into the weekend with 982 career points, looking to become the 13th Colonel in the 1000-point club.
Nicholls had no problem scoring inside early as the first six baskets came inside the paint for a 12-5 lead. The advantage hovered around that margin until White and Ryan drained back-to-back 3-pointers to put Nicholls up 26-17. Ryan, who had nine points in the first half, pushed the advantage to 31-21 with a layup with 90 seconds until intermission and the Colonels headed into the break leading 33-25.
In the second half, Nicholls went on a drought which allowed UIW to tie the game at 45 with 10:41 remaining. The Colonels answered the run by driving to the rim on their next three possessions, resulting in six consecutive free throws. Nicholls made all six and finished the night shooting 18 of 21 at the line.
Leading 53-49 with seven minutes to go, Charles tacked on two more from the charity stripe before White nailed a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine. The Colonels continued to attack on both sides of the ball and it resulted in a decisive 15-0 run.
Along with shooting over 40 percent, Nicholls was helped by turning the ball over only 12 times, which is eight below its season average. UIW had 17 turnovers, resulting in nine steals for the Colonels. Nicholls headed into the matchup ranked third in the nation with 12.2 steals per game.
UIW was led in scoring by Yvonne Maosa and Haley Frias with 13 points each.
Nicholls will return home for its next three contests, starting Saturday, Feb. 7 against McNeese State. Tipoff against the Cowgirls is scheduled for 1 p.m.
