Women's Basketball: Feb. 4 Scoreboard
Nicholls 69, UIW 58
Central Arkansas 60, Southeastern Louisiana 48
Nicholls 69, UIW 58
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After closing out the first half of its conference schedule with three straight victories, the Nicholls State University women’s basketball team added one more win to the streak as the Colonels swept a home-and-home series against Incarnate Word with a 69-58 victory on Wednesday night at the McDermott Center.
With the win, Nicholls climbed over .500 for the first time this season, improving to 11-10 overall and 7-3 in Southland play. The loss was the fifth consecutive for UIW (5-15, 2-7) and dropped the Cardinals to 0-3 all-time versus the Colonels.
The Colonels led the entire game, but UIW made a ferocious comeback in the middle of the second half to tie the game at 45-all. Nicholls saw a 44-36 advantage quickly evaporate over two minutes as UIW put together a 9-1 spurt. However, the Colonels made six consecutive free throws to regain the lead and went on to outscore UIW, 23-4, to put the game away.
Jenny Nash led all scorers with 16 points and Tia Charles was right behind with 15. The duo combined to shoot 10 of 17 from the field as Nicholls shot 43 percent on the night. Veronica Ryan came off the bench for 11 points, Shay Arnick added nine and Emani White chipped in with eight. White heads into the weekend with 982 career points, looking to become the 13th Colonel in the 1000-point club.
Nicholls had no problem scoring inside early as the first six baskets came inside the paint for a 12-5 lead. The advantage hovered around that margin until White and Ryan drained back-to-back 3-pointers to put Nicholls up 26-17. Ryan, who had nine points in the first half, pushed the advantage to 31-21 with a layup with 90 seconds until intermission and the Colonels headed into the break leading 33-25.
In the second half, Nicholls went on a drought which allowed UIW to tie the game at 45 with 10:41 remaining. The Colonels answered the run by driving to the rim on their next three possessions, resulting in six consecutive free throws. Nicholls made all six and finished the night shooting 18 of 21 at the line.
Leading 53-49 with seven minutes to go, Charles tacked on two more from the charity stripe before White nailed a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine. The Colonels continued to attack on both sides of the ball and it resulted in a decisive 15-0 run.
Along with shooting over 40 percent, Nicholls was helped by turning the ball over only 12 times, which is eight below its season average. UIW had 17 turnovers, resulting in nine steals for the Colonels. Nicholls headed into the matchup ranked third in the nation with 12.2 steals per game.
UIW was led in scoring by Yvonne Maosa and Haley Frias with 13 points each.
Nicholls will return home for its next three contests, starting Saturday, Feb. 7 against McNeese State. Tipoff against the Cowgirls is scheduled for 1 p.m.
– Return to top –
Central Arkansas 60, Southeastern Louisiana 48
HAMMOND, La. — Central Arkansas held Southeastern Louisiana without a field goal for more than 13 minutes and limited the Lady Lions to just 18 second-half points as the Sugar Bears scored a 60-48 road win on Wednesday for their second straight victory.
The Sugar Bears (12-9, 5-4 Southland), who are first in the Southland and 49th nationally in scoring defense at 57.6 points per game, won for the third straight game in which they've held an opponent to less than 50 points as they kept the Lady Lions (7-13, 3-6) without a basket in the second half until the 7:29 mark.
By that point UCA had turned a three-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage, and were never seriously threatened down the stretch by SLU. A key part of the Sugar Bears' success was on the glass as they outrebounded the Lady Lions – who feature two of the league's top 10 rebounders in Nanna Pool (9.5 per game) and Jameika Hoskins (7.7) – by a total of 39-30. The Sugar Bears grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 13 second-chance points.
For the second straight game, the Sugar Bears were bolstered by a big offensive night from sophomore guard Maggie Proffitt, who had 25 points – the highest output of her career away from the Farris Center – to follow up on her 28-point outing in last week's win over Northwestern State. Proffitt, who hit three 3s to raise her career total to 112 and move her into sole possession of 8th place on the UCA career list, topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time this year and led the team in scoring for the seventh time.
Watts and Brianna Mullins each had 9 points for the Sugar Bears, while Agee added 7 points and 5 rebounds. Jameka Watkins had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals and played a turnover-free game, and Sadler matched her career high with 8 rebounds while playing a season-high 37 minutes.
UCA limited Southeastern to just 17.4 percent shooting in the second half and 32.7 percent for the game while keeping the Lady Lions nearly 15 points beneath their season scoring average. The Sugar Bears, meanwhile, shot 42.9 percent and reached 60 points for the third straight game, just the second time this season they've done so.
The Sugar Bears look to continue their winning streak at home on Saturday as they host New Orleans at noon in the Farris Center in an ESPN3 broadcast as part of a doubleheader featuring the UCA and UNO men at 2:30.
– Return to top –