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THIBODAUX, La. — The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will host its annual Pink Game Saturday, Feb. 24 as the Colonels take on rival New Orleans in Stopher Gymnasium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Nicholls will wear special pink uniforms to help promote breast cancer awareness. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive wristbands and pom-poms.
Saturday's matchup against New Orleans (14-13, 10-6 SLC) will be the second contest of the final three-game homestand, with Senior Day slated for Wednesday. With wins in both games, Nicholls would finish with a winning record at home for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
More important, the Colonels (13-13, 8-7 SLC) are looking to punch their ticket to the Southland Conference Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. Two victories in the final three games would secure a spot in the postseason. Nicholls is in seventh place and trails New Orleans by 1.5 games for fourth, and is one game behind Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Colonels swept McNeese with their 63-51 win on Wednesday to lead the Cowgirls by a game and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. At ninth place, Southeastern Louisiana is currently on the outside looking in at 6-9.
The Colonels bounced back after seeing their four-game winning streak snapped with the 12-point win over McNeese. Nicholls dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Cowgirls 23-2 to take control of the game. The third quarter has been kind to the Colonels in league play as they are outscoring the opposition by 62 points.
Cassidy Barrios was the offensive star in the win, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds for her league-best 13th double-double. Barrios has performed like an All-Southland player all season, ranking among the leaders in the Southland in eight major categories. She ranks in the top 5 of the SLC in points per game (16.4), rebounding (9.3), free throw percentage (.873), steals (2.9), 3-point percentage (.378) and blocks (1.5).
While Barrios is third in the Southland in scoring, New Orleans features the league's top scorer – senior guard Randi Brown. At 21.8 points per game, Brown comes to Thibodauxranked ninth in the NCAA in scoring, pouring in 588 points so far this season. Brown has been outstanding during the Privateers three-game win streak, recording a pair of 30-point games.
The last meeting between Nicholls and UNO in early February was a tale of two halves. UNO cruised in the early going, holding a 31-15 lead at the half. But the Colonels came out of the locker room on fire and put up 33 points in the third to take the lead. UNO went back up with a 3-pointer in the final seconds, but Barrios drew a foul with 0.3 seconds on the clock while shooting a 3 and made all three free throws for a 62-61 win.
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Nicholls will honor its two seniors –
Marina Lilly and
Tia Charles – for Senior Night against Northwestern State on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Tipoff in Stopher Gym is scheduled for 6 p.m.
