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January 30, 2019Just get a deal done!
January 30, 2019
On the night that the Nicholls State University women’s basketball team dropped a banner to forever commemorate its 2018 Southland Conference Championship, the 2019 version of the team showed that it has both high hopes of repeating the feat — and also the talent to do it.
The Colonels routed Texas A&M – Corpus Christi 85-55 last week to improve to 5-2 in Southland play.
Nicholls dominated from start-to-finish in the game, storming ahead 28-13 after the first quarter, then taking a 29-point lead at halftime.
The emotions for the Colonels were apparent. Before the game, the team celebrated its Southland Championship and NCAA Tournament bid, dropping banners for both from the rafters at Stopher Gym.
Once on the floor, Nicholls showed that they’re more than capable of hanging additional banners in the future with arguably its most dominating performance of the year — a complete destruction of a Corpus Christi team that entered play with a 4-2 record in the Southland.
It was a total team effort for Nicholls in the win with some of the usual culprits having some of their most impressive performances of the season.
Senior guard Cassidy Barrios was huge in the win — a sentence we could say after literally every, single Nicholls game at this point. She’s been one one of the most historic runs in program history — on pace to literally re-write the school’s record books before graduation.
Against Corpus-Christi, Barrios was even more dominant than normal, scoring 23 points (9-of-13 shooting, 4-of-7 from the 3-point line) with 13 rebounds and six assists.
For her strong play, Barrios is now just 30 points away from setting the all-time Nicholls scoring record — an honor she will likely set away this week when the Colonels face at Lamar (tonight) or at Southeastern Louisiana (Saturday). She already owns the school record for blocks.
Barring injury or unforeseen circumstances, there is virtually no chance for Barrios to break the record at home. Tonight’s date with Lamar marks the start of a five-game road trip for the Colonels, who will not play in Stopher Gym again until Feb. 20 against Sam Houston State.
But the Colonels enter this key stretch in their schedule playing some of their best basketball of the season.
In addition to Barrios’ dominance against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, the Colonels got big-time contributions from Airi Hamilton and Chyystal Ezechukwu in the post. They combined for 25 points and 12 rebounds in the game.
The Colonels also got a strong showing from All-Conference guard Tykeria Williams, who scored 19 points in 30 minutes — her strongest game of the season.
Williams was a strong player last season for Nicholls, earning all-Southland recognition.
But her 2018-19 start has been slow because of an offseason injury, which sidelined her for the first month of the season.
Since returning, Williams has been eased back into the lineup, but is starting to find her form.
Against Corpus Christi, she was 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point stripe. She had 3 rebounds and 3 assists to go along with 2 steals.
WHAT LIES AHEAD ON THE ROAD TRIP
Now, the focus for Nicholls will be to peak at the right time — like they did last season.
They’ll have to do so while enjoying bus rides, hotel beds and continental breakfasts — the luxuries of the road.
In the next five games, the Colonels will be challenged — beginning tonight against Lamar, which sits near the top of the Southland Conference standings.
That game will be a rematch of a huge game that Nicholls won last year in the Southland Conference Tournament. The Lady Cardinals entered the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, but the Colonels beat them 74-68, ending Lamar’s NCAA Tournament hopes in a thrilling, hard-fought victory that went back and forth several times in the second half.
After that game, things don’t get any easier. Southeastern Louisiana is in the middle of the standings and is 5-3 on their home floor.
Next week, Nicholls will face UNO on Saturday — a traditional rival, then they will travel from the city to Texas to play Abilene Christian (Feb. 13) and Houston Baptist (Feb. 16). Abilene Christian is near the top of the standings, while Houston Baptist is among the lower-ranked teams in the conference.
The Colonels are 7-1 at home, but just 3-6 on the road, so to stay near the top-half of the Southland standings, they will have to reverse that trend in the coming weeks.
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