LIVE STATS | VIDEO ($) FOR FRIDAY
THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will wrap up its stretch of six games away from Thibodaux to begin the season with a pair of matchups in the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic, starting Friday, Nov. 23 at the Don Haskins Center.
Nicholls (0-4) opens up play against the host Miners (2-1) at 4:30 central time on Friday, and is set to square off against Texas Southern on Saturday at 6 p.m. central. Live stats for both games is available and a video stream of Friday's game can be accessed with a small fee.
The Colonels have played a brutal schedule so far, taking on top-ranked Baylor and three tough opponents in the Preseason WNIT, and as a result, are searching for their first win of the season. Nicholls held leads in the second half in its last two outings against Texas State and Delaware but came up short down the stretch.
Although facing stiff competition, senior guard
Cassidy Barrios has continued her all-league play by putting together four 20-point games. For the season, she is averaging a Southland-best 22 points to go along with 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Barrios has won both Southland Player of the Weeks for her outstanding start to her final campaign.
Nicholls was red-hot from 3-point range in the matchup with Delaware last Saturday, connecting on 8 of 14. On the year, the Colonels are shooting at a respectable .351 clip. Barrios has accounted for 10 of the made 3-pointers, with sophomore
Destiny Collins (8.5 ppg) added five. Freshman
Adrian Mann (5.0) and sophomore
Kinzie Heineman (4.5) have made four each.
UTEP, out of Conference USA, is 2-1 so far with wins over Alcorn State and Cal-State Bakersfield. Last Saturday, the Miners were edged at home, 69-65, by New Mexico State. The game was knotted with three minutes to go before the Aggies hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull away.
UTEP has three players averaging double figures, led by 6-foot-3 post player Zuzanna Puc's 15.7 points per game. She has shot an impressive 69 percent from the floor and is also almost averaging a double-double with 9.8 rebounds. UTEP has a plus-14 margin on the boards, while the smaller Colonels have been out-rebounded the season by an average of 16 per contest.
SWAC member Texas Southern picked up a win over NAIA Paul Quinn, and nearly knocked off Tulane (62-56) and Rice (76-71). Niya Mitchell has paced the Tigers with 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds. She led TSU in the lone victory with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
UP NEXT
The Colonels return to Thibodaux for their next two games, starting with their home opener against SUNO at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Tickets are available on NichollsTickets.com.
