THIBODAUX, La. - Following its second win on the road, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team will look to piece together back-to-back victories as the Colonels square off against the University of New Orleans Saturday evening in Lakefront Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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Nicholls (5-13, 2-7 SLC) is ending a heavy road slate as Saturday will be the sixth away game out of eight contests to start 2020. The Colonels won at Southeastern Louisiana on Jan. 11 before earning their second win Wednesday at HBU.

The game against the Huskies featured significant runs by both squads. Nicholls found itself down 25-11 after the opening quarter but managed to tie the game at halftime. The Colonels then built a 17-point lead in the fourth before HBU hit a barrage of 3-pointers to tie the game. Although Nicholls did not make a field goal in the final 7:30, the team stepped up a the free-throw line by hitting 15 of 18 to notch an 84-78 victory.

Senior Airi Hamilton played all 40 minutes for the 10th time this season and recorded her first career double-double, missing just twice from the field as she finished with career highs in points (20) and rebounds (13). Averaging 11.7 points per game, ranking second on the team, Hamilton leads the Southland Conference with an average of 38.2 minutes played.

Nicholls also received a big game offensively from Loan-Anh Johnson, who had a team-high 21 points against the Huskies. Johnson had a pair of 20-point efforts en route to being named SLC Player of the Week two weeks ago, and with her team-high against HBU, is the lone Colonel this season with multiple 20-point games. 

Chrystal Ezechukwu scored 16 Wednesday and still leads the team in scoring for the season at 11.9 points per game. Johnson averages 10.4 and Tykeria Williams ranks fourth on the squad at 10.2 to go along with 4.1 assists. 

New Orleans will be looking to bounce back from an 83-53 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which ended its winning streak at six games. The Privateers climbed up the standings with five consecutive wins in league play, last defeating McNeese behind 22 points from Rehema Franklin.

A native of New Orleans, Franklin leads UNO in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Her season-high 33 points against North Dakota sparked the Privateers' win streak. 

Like in the series against HBU, Nicholls has won the last five meetings in the series. Last season, the Colonels won in New Orleans, 76-62, before knocking off the Privateers in Thibodaux, 66-58.

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