THIBODAUX, La. – Winners of four straight, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team will look to stay among the leaders in the Southland Conference as the Colonels begin a three-game homestand with a matchup against McNeese State at 1p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Stopher Gym.
As always, the game will be broadcast on KNSU 91.5 FM, with a video stream and live stats available on geauxcolonels.com.
After coming up short in a tough road game at Northwestern State, the Colonels (11-10, 7-3 SLC) claimed an overtime win over Central Arkansas before taking care of business against two teams in the lower half of the standings with a victory over New Orleans and two against Incarnate Word. Nicholls defeated UIW in its last outing on Wednesday, picking up a 69-58 win on the road in San Antonio.
With their 7-3 mark in conference, the Colonels currently sit in third place in the standings, trailing Lamar (9-2) and Stephen F. Austin (7-2). There are four teams behind the Colonels with four conference losses including McNeese State (12-9, 6-4 SLC), which suffered a heartbreaking 90-86 triple overtime loss at New Orleans on Thursday.
The meeting between Nicholls and McNeese will be the first of two this season, with the Colonels making the return trip to Lake Charles on Feb. 28. The Cowgirls have a commanding 53-16 lead in the all-time series, but Nicholls has swept McNeese in the last two regular seasons. In the last matchup,
Emani White tied her career-high with 33 points to lead Nicholls to a 76-66 win on Feb. 22, 2014.
White, who heads into the game with 982 career points, has slowly worked her way back into action after missing two months with a hip injury. Since returning, she is averaging 7.7 points in six games played. Most of her points have come from behind the arc as eight of her 13 made field goals have been 3-pointers.
Senior
Jenny Nash, who was recently named to the Capital One Academic All-District 6 First Team, continues to be a consistent force for head coach
DoBee Plaisance. After being a significant role player for most of her career, Nash has stepped up this season as the Colonels' go-to player, leading the team in points per game (13.1), 3-pointers made (54), rebounds (5.8) and assists (2.8). In the Colonels' win at UIW, Nash needed only nine field goal attempts to manufacture a game-high 16 points.
In the Colonels' winning streak, the Red and Gray are outscoring the opposition by 15.8 points per game, outshooting them from the field, 47 percent to 36 percent, and have a 42 percent clip from 3-point range. Nicholls has also been great from the free throw line, making 72 percent of its attempts.
McNeese, which is fourth in the Southland in scoring at 68.8 points, is led by the guard duo of Allison Baggett and Jalyn Johnson. Baggett is averaging 17 points per game, ranking third in the Southland. Johnson, who is averaging 13.2 points, poured in a career-high 32 points in the Cowgirls' loss at New Orleans.
Saturday's game in Thibodaux will mark the Cowgirls' seventh road contest in their last nine conference games. McNeese went through a brutal four-game road trip, but came away with a 3-1 record which included a double overtime win at UIW.
Following Saturday's game, the Colonels will have the week off before returning to host Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, Feb. 14. Tipoff at Stopher Gym is scheduled for 1 p.m.
