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THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team returns home after a successful week on the road to host rival Northwestern State on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Stopher Gym.
 
Just a week ago, the Colonels (5-10, 3-2 SLC) had not won a true road game all season and were in the bottom half of the Southland Conference standings. Following wins at Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls finds itself back in the thick of the conference race and will have opportunities this week to knock off two teams ahead of them in the standings.
 
First up is Northwestern State (11-6, 5-1 SLC), which brings a three-game winning streak to Thibodaux. The Lady Demons, winners of the last two Southland Conference Tournaments, are a half-game behind first-place Abilene Christian, which rallied late to defeat Nicholls at Stopher Gym on Jan. 9.
 
Historically, the series has been one-side as NSU leads 64-9, but the Colonels have won the last three matchups in Thibodaux in 2012, '13 and '15. Nicholls picked up a 59-40 win over the Lady Demons in February; however, Northwestern State was able to avenge the loss in the postseason as they eliminated Nicholls for the second straight season.
 
The Colonels are coming off an overtime victory at A&M-Corpus Christi, led by redshirt junior Hope Pawlowski's career night. After leading the team in scoring in the non-conference, Pawlowski took just 18 field goal attempts in the first four Southland games, accounting for 16 points. Against the Islanders, she made 8 of 15 from the field and 3 of 5 from behind the arc to score 23 points. Defensively, she had seven steals for the second straight game and is currently ranked ninth in the NCAA at 3.13 per game.
 
Nicholls relies heavily on forcing turnovers as they rank ninth in the nation at 11.7 steals per game, but Northwestern State is the top team in the Southland in taking care of the ball.  With All-Southland point guard Janelle Perez directing the offense, NSU is averaging just 14.9 turnovers per game. Perez is also fifth in the league in scoring (14.7 ppg), third in assists (3.6) and ranks sixth in the country with a 46.5 3-point percentage.
 
Through five conference games, senior LiAnn McCarthy paces the Colonels in scoring at 17.4 points, while Marina Lilly and Cassidy Barrios are averaging over 11 points. Lilly has made 62.5 percent of her shots in Southland play, while Barrios has continued to display her versatility as she averages 6.6 rebounds and totals 16 assists, eight steals and four blocks.
 
Following Wednesday night's matchup, the Colonels will host Central Arkansas on Saturday (Jan. 23) at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN3. The Sugar Bears also have just one loss in conference play and are a game ahead of Nicholls in the standings.