THIBODAUX, La. – The third quarter has been an area of struggle for the Nicholls State University women's basketball team this season, but Wednesday night was a different story as the Colonels pulled away from New Orleans with a 23-11 third quarter en route to a 70-55 victory Wednesday night at Stopher Gym.
With the win, Nicholls put an end to its three-game skid, improving to 9-16 overall and 7-8 in league play. New Orleans slipped to 7-17 and 4-11 in the Southland.
The teams were tied at 20 after a high-scoring first quarter, but each squad scored just eight points in the second. The Colonels then dominated the third, making 10 field goals in the period while the defense held UNO to just three made buckets and caused seven turnovers.
Nicholls found itself down 34-30 at the 7:24 mark in the third before going on a 17-2 run over the next five minutes. Freshman
Cassidy Barrios hit two big 3-pointers during the stretch, and senior
LiAnn McCarthy capped the run with a jumper to make the score 47-36. The rest of the way, New Orleans never came closer than eight points as the Colonels split the season series.
Before Wednesday night's showing, the Colonels had been outscored in the third quarter by 64 points – which was the largest margin of any quarter. But while the defense continued its strong play from the second quarter against UNO, holding them to 19 points over two periods, the Colonels' offense found its stroke by knocking down 48 percent of its shots in the third.
McCarthy led the Colonels with a game-high 21 points, while
Tia Charles scored 15 and Barrios added 13. McCarthy banked home a late 3-pointer to put her at 998 career points as she aims to become the 14th player in program history to reach 1,000 points.
The Colonels shot 42 percent from the field and made 7-of-22 from behind the arc. They received three from long range by Barrios, while McCarthy sank two, and Charles and
Taylor Morrison (9 points) made one each.
The defense did a great job of stifling UNO's leading scorer, Randi Brown, who finished with 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Alexis Martin led the team with 14 points.
Nicholls will go for the season sweep of McNeese State with a Saturday (Feb. 27) matchup with the Cowgirls in Lake Charles. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
