THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University women's and men's basketball teams will take on McNeese for the programs' annual Stuff Stopher game on Thursday, Jan. 19 at Stopher Gymnasium. Tipoff for the women is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the men will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game. Both contests will be streamed on ESPN+.
Thursday's game is the first of a back-to-back against McNeese with the Colonels heading to Lake Charles on Saturday (Jan. 21) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
The Nicholls women (4-12, 1-4 SLC) will be looking to bounce back from a home loss last Saturday, falling to Northwestern State, 76-64. Despite picking up a road win in overtime at Lamar earlier last week, the Colonels came up short in notching consecutive wins.
The Colonels received a pair of stellar performances by
Lexi Alexander and
Deonna Brister as the duo combined for 43 of the Colonels' 64 points against the Lady Demons. Alexander averaged 23.0 points and 10.5 rebounds last week, shooting .531 from the field. Brister was close behind at 21.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. Alexander heads into the weekend as the league's fourth leading scorer (13.6) while Brister's 11.9 ranks seventh.
McNeese (5-11, 2-3 SLC) heads to Thibodaux following a home victory over Houston Christian. The Cowgirls are searching for their first win away from Lake Charles this season, while Nicholls is looking to win at home in conference for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
The Cowgirl offense is led by Paris Mullins, who is averaging 10.2 points per game off the bench. The Auburn transfer scored a season-high 21 points in McNeese's home victory over Northwestern State.
McNeese picked up a sweep in the series last season after Nicholls had rattled off five consecutive victories.
The Colonel men's team (8-9, 3-2 SLC) won their last matchup over Northwestern State, 77-63, to improve to 6-0 at home this season. Nicholls used a strong offensive effort by
Caleb Huffman (29 points) along with season-highs by
Pierce Spencer (14 points) and
Lance-Amir Paul (13 points, six assists, six steals) to earn a series split with the Demons.
While Huffman (15.5 ppg) and
Latrell Jones (14.6 ppg) rank in the top 10 of the Southland in scoring, the Colonels have posted the best scoring defense in league games at 67.2 points per outing. Nicholls has allowed over 70 points once in the five SLC games, and that came in the 88-73 league-opening win over Southeastern.
McNeese (5-13, 2-3 SLC) has dropped three straight games after being handed a 90-81 defeated by Houston Christian last weekend. The Cowboys started conference play with wins over Lamar and Northwestern State.
The Cowboys feature a trio of double-figure scorers, led by Trae English at 12.3 ppg. Christian Shumate and Zach Scott are each averaging over 11 points per game. Scott led McNeese in the last outing against HCU with 17 points.
The Colonels have won the last five matchups against the Cowboys, last falling to McNeese in overtime in 2020.
