THIBODAUX, La.  – Following a pair of road games in Texas to begin the New Year, the Nicholls State University women's basketball will host Lamar University on Wednesday, Jan. 8 for its first home contest of 2020. Tipoff is Stopher Gymnasium is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

Before the holiday break, Nicholls suffered its first home loss in dramatic fashion in overtime against Abilene Christian. The Colonels then lost another heartbreaker at UIW last week before falling to conference-leader Sam Houston State. The Colonels (3-10, 0-4 SLC) will be aiming for their first league win of the early going. 

It will mark just the fifth home game for the Red and Gray this season. Including the loss to ACU, Nicholls has won 19 of the last 21 games in Stopher Gymnasium. The team is averaging 88.3 points in Thibodaux for the 2019-20 campaign and outscoring opponents by 17.5 per contest. The lowest output for the Colonel offense at Stopher was their 74-59 win over ULM. 

Despite the losses last week, senior post player Chrystal Ezechukwu scored 16 points in each of the matchups. She increased her scoring average to 11.1 points, second-best on the team, and is leading the way with 7.2 rebounds per game. Airi Hamilton heads the offense with 11.3 points. 

Lamar (6-7, 2-2 SLC) is looking to bounce back from its own tough loss to Abilene Christian, 78-72, on the road. The game was tied with five minutes remaining before the Wildcats put the game away. Sophomore Angel Hastings scored a career-high 29 points in the loss.

Hastings is one of two Cardinals averaging 12 points, joined by Amber Vidal who has scored in double figures in seven straight games. Vidal led the way in LU's win over Southeastern Louisiana with 21 points. 

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