THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 69-42 inside Stopher Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
Nicholls (11-11, 7-8 SLC) started the game strong on both ends as they opened the game on a 14-2 run spearheaded by Marie Kenembeni and Sh'Diamond McKnight. The duo finished with seven points apiece in the first 10 minutes as the Colonels led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Colonels never looked back as Kenemebeni hit a jumper to give the Colonels their largest lead of the first half (25).
 
In the first half, the Red & Gray offense was led by Kenembeni who had 13 points while McKnight and Tanita Swift added nine apiece. After forcing 12 turnovers and allowing the Islanders to shoot 5-20 from the field the Colonels led 38-16 the intermission.
 
McKnight took charge of the scoring in the second half as she scored 13 points to finish with a game high 22 points. Kenembeni hit seven field goals including one from long range and four from the charity stripe to finish with 19 points. Swift added 11 while Laryn Scott hit three field goals and three foul shots to add nine points.
 
The Colonels' defense was stout as they forced 13 turnovers in the second half to finish the game with 25 or more forced turnovers for the fifth time this season. The Red & Gray finished with 15 steals which help them generate 19 fast break points. The Colonels also won the rebound margin by 10 and had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points.
 
The victory completes the season sweep for the Colonels and they now trail the all-time series 13-16 dating back to 2007. The 27-point victory is the largest margin of victory for the Red & Gray in SLC play this season.
 
UP NEXT
The Red & Gray will return to action next week across state lines against HCU (2/12) and UIW (2/14).