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THIBODAUX, La. – Winners of its last two, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team will face another stiff test as the Colonels take on Central Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 23 in Stopher Gymnasium for their annual Pink Game.
The Colonels will be wearing their special pink uniforms to help raise breast cancer awareness. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the men's game set to follow.
Nicholls (15-10, 9-4 SLC) has continued to give itself a chance at a possible regular season championship, but the Colonels trail first place by three games in the loss column with only five games remaining on their schedule. A sweep over Central Arkansas (11-12, 6-7 SLC) could give the Colonels an advantage in any tiebreaker scenarios for seeding in next month's Southland Conference Tournament.
Earlier this year in Conway, Nicholls battled the Sugar Bears and came away with a 64-60 win, ending a five-game drought in the series. Senior Cassidy Barrios had one of her most efficient games of the season in the victory, totaling 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting while adding eight rebounds and three steals. On defense, Chrystal Ezechukwu was a force inside, blocking four shots and had nine rebounds.
The Colonels improved to 8-1 at Stopher Gym with their 84-81 triumph over Sam Houston State Wednesday night. Redshirt freshman Lauryn Bowie had a breakout performance with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds and missed just once from the field in 10 attempts. It was the second time in the last four games that the Duncanville, Texas native reached double figures in points.
Nicholls ranks third in the league in scoring in conference games, averaging 73.9 points per contest. For the season, Barrios continues to be among the NCAA leaders in scoring (20.2 ppg) and rebounding (11.1), ranking 22nd in the nation in both categories.
Guard Tykeria Williams is also averaging double figures for the season at 10.4 points. She has had at least 10 points in six of the last eight games, including 12 in the win at UCA.
Central Arkansas brings a four-game winning streak to Thibodaux following its 76-45 win over McNeese. The Sugar Bears have not only been winning as of late, but their closest game during the streak was their 77-58 win over HBU.
Kamry Orr fuels the UCA offense, averaging 16.3 points and 3.6 assists. She also contributes 2.4 steals per game as the Sugar Bears feature the league's best scoring defense at 55.6 points per game. In the seven games since the meeting with the Colonels, UCA has allowed only one team to score more than 60 points, which was in their 77-70 loss to Abilene Christian.
TICKET INFO
Get season or single-game tickets now by calling 985-448-4790 or visiting nichollstickets.com. For the latest news on Nicholls women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter @Nicholls_WBB.
