POSTGAME QUOTES | PRESS CONFERENCE
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team's impressive run came to end Saturday as No. 1 seed Mississippi State defeated the Colonels, 95-50, in Humphrey Coliseum in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
In the program's first-ever tournament appearance, the Colonels (19-14) hung around through the first quarter at 21-13, but Mississippi State put up 33 points in the second quarter and never looked back.
Sophomore
Tykeria Williams had a team-high 16 points, helped by four 3-pointers, and junior
Cassidy Barrios finished with 14 points. Senior
Marina Lilly had six points and nine rebounds, battling inside all game with MSU's 6-foot-7 Teaira McCowan before fouling out. Fellow senior
Tia Charles had six points in her final game as a Colonel and added three steals.
The Bulldogs, who improved to 33-1 on the season and 18-0 at home, held Nicholls to 18 of 65 from the field. The Colonels fired up 25 shots from behind the arc, connecting on just six. MSU shot 50 percent from the field, sparked by a 9-of-13 third quarter.
Nicholls did not seem phased by the boisterous 10,000-plus fans in the building, using early buckets by Barrios to trail 7-6 in the first four minutes. But MSU finally got some separation with nine straight points to grab a 17-8 advantage. The Colonels answered with free throws from
Airi Hamilton and Barrios canned a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four, however, the Bulldogs got four points from Victoria Vivians to close out the quarter.
In the second, MSU stifled the Colonel offense and held them to two points through four minutes. After Barrios ended the drought, Nicholls was already down 36-17. Things didn't get much better for the Colonels in the quarter as the home team nailed 5 of 7 3-pointers, capped on one from Vivians to send MSU into the locker room with a 54-24 lead.
The Colonels had several second-half comebacks throughout the season, but the Bulldogs made sure they were not going to be the next victim. Despite 13 second-half points from Williams, MSU doubled up the Colonels in the third, 26-13, to put the game well out of reach.
Vivians finished with a game-high 20 points and added 13 rebounds. McCowan also had a double-double for MSU with 18 points and 13 boards, and Blair Schaefer had 18 points as well.
Nicholls finished the season with 19 wins, matching the program record set in 2012-13. The Colonels lose just two seniors - starters Charles and Lilly and return eight letterwinners.
