Lady Colonels drop home opener 71-57 to ULL

Through their first three games this season, the Nicholls State Lady Colonels hadn’t scored more than 33 points.

The good news was Friday night they scored 57. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the win as the Lady Colonels (0-4) fell to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns 71-57.

Despite the loss, first-year head coach DoBee Plaisance remains positive about her team’s performance.

“I was very pleased that we were able to hang around with them for a little while even though they eventually pulled away,” she said. “I’m really glad that we didn’t get down and still came out to play in the second half.”

Nicholls outscored Louisiana-Lafayette 33-26 in the second half, but ineffective first-half shooting hampered a Colonel comeback.

The Lady Colonels only shot 10 percent (one-of-10) from behind the three-point line, and 33.3 percent (nine-of-27) from field-goal range.

Only once in the game did the Lady Colonels lead. A jumper by senior Christie Bryant put her team up 4-2 with 18:30 to play, but ULL’s three-point basket by Whitney Dunlap 20 seconds later put the Cajuns ahead 5-4, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-7) held a 45-24 advantage at halftime due, in part, to shooting 47.2 percent (17-of-36) from the floor, and 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from behind the arc. ULL also held the rebound edge, 32-15, at the midway point.

However, the Colonels rebounded from their first-half troubles to outscore the Cajuns 33-26 in the second half, which was due in large part to a 44.4 percent (12-of-27) showing from the floor and a 66.7 percent (2-of-3) from three-point land. Nicholls cut a 28-point deficit down to eventually 14 in the process.

For the game, ULL was 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from field-goal range to Nicholls’ 38.9 percent (21-of-54), while the Ragin’ Cajuns shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range to the Colonels’ 23.1 percent (3-of-13).

Leading all scorers in the contest was true freshman Jasmine Hoskins with 17 points, while also boasting a team-high eight rebounds. Also posting double-figures for the Colonels was senior Dominique Washington with 14 points, which included a two-for-four showing from three-point land.

Leading all bench scorers was true freshman Nadia Cox who notched eight points, five rebounds and one steal, which were career highs in all categories. Cox accomplished all of her stats in just seven minutes on the court, mostly in the second half.

The Ragin’ Cajuns had three players in double figures, with Nicole Morris leading all Ragin Cajun scores with 16 points.

“We’re still learning the system and settling in,” Plaisance said. “I think once we get used of that we’re going to be OK.”