No. 6 Colonels use defense to bounce No. 7 Wildcats in Southland Women’s Second Round

Nicholls limits Abilene Christian to season-low field goal average

KATY, Texas – Nicholls’ road to the 2021 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament was guided by first team all-conference forward Chelsea Cain, but it was the performance of teammate Chyna Allen that stole the show and kept the Colonels alive for at least another day.

Allen scored 18 points and ignited a second-half rally that gave the sixth seed Colonels a hard-fought 67-57 win over seventh seed Abilene Christian at Leonard E. Merrell Center on Thursday, setting up a Friday matchup between Nicholls (11-13) and third seed Sam Houston Friday at 2 p.m. CT.

“Defense wins,” said Nicholls coach Dobee Plaisance, whose team held ACU (14-10) to 33 percent shooting, including a fourth quarter where the Wildcats missed 12-of-14 shots. “We had to do our due diligence to respect not only that three-ball, but we had to do it knowing they can come off that dribble drive, too.”

Nicholls’ defense was able to slow down ACU’s second team all-conference forward Anna McLeod, who scored 19 points yet shot only 6-for-21 from the field. McLeod, who hit six 3-pointers in Wednesday’s victory over UIW, was 2-for-14 from beyond the arc on Thursday.

“We focused on McLeod,” Plaisance said. “What was more key was that we were accountable to guard one-on-one, but at the end of the day, it was just our intent to contest and contain.”

Once Cain (24 points, eight rebounds, two steals) and McLeod warmed up, both teams began to feed off their star performers. ACU received five points from McLeod to take a 14-12 lead after one quarter, a margin which was stretched to 20-12 when Alyssa Adams drove through the Colonels’ defense for a layup at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter. Cain hit four of her first five shots but was silenced once the Wildcats’ defense began to collapse on her.

The Wildcats were unable to keep Cain down for long as she worked the ACU defense for a pair of baskets that trimmed the margin to 22-20 as intermission approached. It was at that point where the Wildcats put together an 8-2 run which was capped by a 3-pointer from Taylor Morgan (19 points) with 48 seconds in the half that gave ACU a brief 30-22 lead before a Cain basket closed the gap for the Colonels and shortened Abilene Christian’s lead to 30-24 at the intermission.

Nicholls found its 3-point range early in the third quarter, with Chyna Allen’s trey, allowing the Colonels to regain the lead at 33-32 with 7:49 remaining. The Colonels’ run was also fueled by a slow start from the field by Abilene Christian, which also committed a trio of turnovers early in the quarter. An Anna McKendree layup increased Nicholls’ lead to 37-32, its largest at that point.

Cain began taking over, reaching the 20-point barrier with a pair of free throws and continued her stretch of offense with a layup to increase the margin to 41-35.

The Wildcats awoke from their offensive slumber with 3-pointers from Madi Miller (10 points) and McLeod, cutting the Colonels lead to 44-43 and retook the advantage on a conventional 3-point play from McLeod to complete an 11-3 run that gave them a 46-44 lead entering the final 10 minutes of play.

Momentum swung again toward Nicholls, which seized the lead on a 3-pointer from Terris McKay with 8:46 remaining. Holding on to a 49-48 edge, the Colonels made it 51-48 on an Allen layup and kept pushing the Wildcats back when it seemed ACU would cut into the margin.

Allen added a layup and followed up with a trey from the corner to extend the Nicholls lead to 59-52 at the 4:22 mark, but after Morgan hit three free throws to pull ACU within 59-57. Allen responded once again, knocking down another trey with 1:43 on the clock to give the Colonels a 62-57 cushion before adding a pair of free throws that finally allowed Nicholls breathing space.

“I think those last 10 minutes we had kind of dead legs and prevented us from getting stops,” said ACU coach Julie Goodenough. “Credit Nicholls. They did a great job of scoring and really making us work in getting the ball down the court to get any open looks.”

Nicholls split the regular-season series against Sam Houston, winning at home 89-82 on January 3 before losing 72-58 on the road on February 6.