THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will travel to Natchitoches to play Northwestern State on Thursday, Feb. 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the action can be seen on ESPN+.
Last week, Nicholls (13-14, 7-8 SLC) split its final two home games. After a low scoring loss to UIW (47-52), the Colonels shot lights out to beat Texas A&M-Commerce (89-77). Northwestern State (10-16, 6-9 SLC) beat HCU (64-55) to secure a spot in the SLC tournament.
Leading the way for the Colonels was reigning SLC Player of the Week
Lexi Alexander who averaged 20.5 points and 12 rebounds in the games against the Cardinals and Lions.
In the win over the Lions, the sophomore scored a career high 28 points while grabbing 15 rebounds while hitting 50% of her shots. Freshman guard
Britiya Curtis notched a career high 28 points while hitting 10 field goals including four from beyond the arc.
The productive week for Alexander brought her scoring average up to 13.9 and her rebounding average to 6.3 which ranks fifth and eighth in the SLC. Curtis averages 11 points and is shooting 42.8% from the field and 39% from long range.
Senior guards
Kyla Hamilton and
Mikayla Etienne average 10.5 and 10 points per game in conference play. Hamilton stuffs the stat sheet with 4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.6 steals while Etienne has 11 games with multiple made 3-pointers.
The Lady Demons offense features three double-figure scorers. Sharna Ayres leads the way with 11.2 followed by Jiselle Woodson (10.9) and Karmelah Dean (10.2). Ayres also paces the team with 5.2 rebounds while Woodson and Dean dish 3.1 and 3 assists per contest.
In the first matchup between the Colonels and Lady Demons, junior forward
Deonna Brister drove to the basket and hit the go-ahead layup with 24.6 seconds left to secure a 60-57 Red & Gray victory. That game marked the 10th time the Colonels forced 10 takeaways, a feat they have now hit 14 times, and has the Nicholls defense ranked 73rd nationally in turnover margin (2.7).
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After the pit stop at NSU, the Red & Gray will head to Lake Charles to play McNeese on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m.
