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THIBODAUX, La. – After a successful three road-wins in Southland competition, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team will play just its third home game since the start of December, as the Colonels take on first-place Central Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 13. Tipoff in Stopher Gym is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Colonels started their Southland schedule with four of the first five on the road, posting an impressive 3-1 record. The lone loss was a two-point heartbreaker at UIW, but Nicholls bounced back to win the next two away games. With a 5-4 mark, the Colonels are the only team in the Southland with a winning record on the road.
Nicholls will now play five of the next seven at home, starting with one of its stiffest tests of the season. The Colonels (8-8, 3-2 SLC) are fifth in the standings in Week 3 of conference play and are two games behind UCA, which stands at a perfect 5-0 (12-4 overall).
Behind two second-half comebacks, Nicholls enters the matchup winners of its last two. The Red and Gray erased an 11-point halftime deficit at HBU and overcame a 14-point one in Wednesday's victory at McNeese.
The Colonels rank around the middle of the pack in the Southland in several categories, but the team posts the fourth-highest scoring offense (66.2 ppg) and is third in steals (11.6). On offense,
Cassidy Barrios, the program's latest member of the 1,000-point club, and
Tykeria Williams both rank in the top 10 of the SLC in scoring at 14.8 and 13.4 points per game, respectively. Williams led Nicholls with a game-high 17 points and hit three 3-pointers, giving her 35 on the season.
While the duo is averaging double figures in scoring for the season, a total of four players are scoring 10 or more points per game since the start of conference play. Seniors
Marina Lilly and
Tia Charles have stepped on their scoring in the final Southland campaign, averaging 11.0 and 10.6, respectively, in league games. Lilly has seen the biggest improvement from nonconference, scoring 4.5 more points per game and shooting 6.4 percent higher from the field.
Defensively, the 54 points surrendered was the second-fewest for an opponent this season and the 27.7 shooting was a best for the Colonel defense. Nicholls also had 12 steals in the win over the Cowgirls and have recorded double figures in steals in all but four games - all four being losses.
Central Arkansas brings one of the nation's top defenses to Thibodaux, ranking second in the NCAA with 48.0 points allowed per game. UCA has surrendered just 50 points once in conference play and is coming off a 57-35 win at UIW on Wednesday. Kamry Orr poured in 27 points in the victory, and UCA limited the Cardinals to 27 percent shooting.
UCA features three players averaging at least nine points per game, led by two-time SLC player of the week Taylor Baudoin at 14.6 points. Orr is close behind at 13.9 points and Kierra Jordan is posting 9.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds.
UCA has a 14-7 lead in the all-time series and has won the last three. Nicholls swept the series in 2015, but Central Arkansas returned the favor in 2016. In last year's lone matchup, UCA came into Thibodaux and picked up a 61-52 victory.
UP NEXT
Nicholls heads back to Texas for a Wednesday (Jan. 17) matchup against the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Colonels will then have the weekend off before returning home on Jan. 24 against Lamar.
