THIBODAUX, La. – Senior
Cassidy Barrios closed out her tenure in Stopher Gymnasium with another record-breaking performance, scoring 25 points to set the Colonels' single-season mark as the Nicholls State University women's basketball team claimed its program-best 20th win by defeating rival Southeastern Louisiana, 72-55, Saturday afternoon on Senior Day.
With the win, the defending champion Colonels (20-10, 14-4) secured the No. 3 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament. They will have a bye into the quarterfinals and face the winner of No. 6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 7 New Orleans. Tipoff on Friday, March 15 is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Katy, Texas.
Barrios tallied her league-best 19th double-double, adding 10 rebounds to become just the second player in team history to collect 1,000 for their career. She also surpassed
Emani White's record of 608 points, set in the 2013-14 season.
Nicholls has won 19 games twice under 11th-year head coach
DoBee Plaisance, but this season marks the first 20-win campaign in program history. The victory also gave the Colonels their 14th Southland win, also a program best, and matched their longest winning streak ever at seven games.
Southeastern Louisiana (9-20, 4-14 SLC) did not make it easy for the Colonels, trailing just 27-23 at the half and then made it a one-point game on an early 3-pointer by Celica Sterling. But the Colonels answered right away, using a 17-1 run to control the rest of the game. Barrios hit a 3-pointer in the stretch, as did freshman
Adrian Mann who had a career-high 20 points.
In the fourth, Barrios canned another 3-ball to give Nicholls its largest lead at 67-44. She was then subbed out before the end of the game, receiving a standing ovation as she left the court for the final time.
Barrios' 25 points came on 9 of 14 from the field and 4 of 8 from behind the arc. Along with her 10 rebounds, she added six assists, three steals, and a block. Mann was just as efficient, making 7 of 9 with a pair of 3-pointers.
The win gave Nicholls a sweep of SLU for the third time in five seasons. The Lady Lions were led by Sterling with 18 points.
