THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will cross state lines for a pair of games in Texas. The Colonels will battle UIW in San Antonio on Thursday, Jan. 18 and then Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 20.
Last week, Nicholls (7-9, 1-3 SLC) dropped a pair of home games by a combined nine points. First, the Colonels were clipped by UNO (69-63) in a back-and-forth affair. In the loss to Lamar (52-49), the Red & Gray got off to a slow start offensively and played from behind most of the contest.
UIW (9-6, 2-2 SLC) enters the game looking to extend their win streak after beating Texas A&M-Commerce (70-62) and Northwestern State (63-57) on the road. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-5, 3-1 SLC) split their two league games last week, falling to Southeastern (61-58) and taking down UNO (61-54). Before battling the Colonels, the Islanders will host McNeese on Thursday.
The Colonels are led by sophomore
Lexi Alexander who posts the sixth best scoring average in the SLC (13.8) and the 14th best rebounding average (5.1). Senior guard
Kyla Hamilton averages 8.3 points and has scored in double figures in three of the first four league games.
Nicholls is the only SLC school with three players that rank within the top 10 in 3-point percentage. Senior guards
Traya Bruce leads the conference at 43.8%, while her classmate
Mikayla Etienne ranks 10th (32.7%). Freshman guard
Britiya Curtis is one of the most efficient scorers in the conference as she shoots 38.1% from long range and 42.7% from the field.
The Islanders have the best defense in the SLC only giving up 55.4 points per game and post a league-best scoring margin (10.2). Their offense is led by Alecia Westbrook and Torie Sevier who average 11.3 points 9.6 points per contest. Westbrook also ranks second in the SLC in rebounding as she hauls in 7.8 boards a game.
The Cardinals allow the second fewest points per game (55.7) and have the fourth best scoring margin (5.4). Offensively they are led by Aliyah Collins and Nina Negron De Leon who average 12.5 and 9.8 per game. De Leon also averages 5.5 rebounds and leads the team in assists (2.9).
