Privateers open Southland road slate with 69-63 victory at Nicholls

THIBODAUX, La. – The New Orleans Privateers hit big shots and free throws down the stretch in a 69-63 win over the Nicholls Colonels on Thursday evening at Stopher Gym.

New Orleans was 19-of-23 from the free throw line and outscored the Colonels by 11 points at the charity stripe. In the fourth quarter, the Privateers hit on 10-of-13 attempts from the line.

The Privateers (5-9, 2-1) slowly extended what was a three-point lead at the end of the third quarter to nine with under five minutes to play. After Nahja Scott completed an old school three-point play though, Nicholls responded with one of their nine three-pointers on the night in the next possession.

Nicholls (7-8, 1-2) got the Privateer lead down to four on several occasions but they were never able to close the gap any further. New Orleans hit 5-of-6 free throws in the last 1:26 to help seal what was their third consecutive victory over the Colonels.

Both teams traded buckets in a high-scoring first quarter. Each side got over 20 points in the opening 10 minutes. New Orleans spurted to a 19-12 advantage with 1:49 remaining in the opening quarter. The Colonels started splashing down threes including a pair from Deonna Brister to erase that deficit. New Orleans went back ahead by a point on two DeArica Pryor free throws.

The sides cooled down a bit in the second quarter. New Orleans’ field goal percentage lowered by six points while Nicholls’ went down 12 (43 to 31). Pryor had a five-point spurt toward the end of the quarter and New Orleans went to the locker room with a 37-33 advantage.

INSIDE THE BOX
Pryor finished with a game-high 21 points and put her career point total at 948. Nora Francois finished with 12 points and six boards. Zoe Cooper led the team in rebounds (8) and Brianna Ellis paced the team in assists (5). Jayla Kimbrough finished with nine points.

Nicholls had four in double figured, led by Mikayla Etienne’s 16 points. Lexi Alexander scored 15 points but was just 5-of-20 from the field and she fouled out in the fourth quarter.

NEXT UP
The Privateers return home on Saturday to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.