Women’s Basketball: Colonels cruise to 76-62 win over rival New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – The Nicholls State University women’s basketball team grabbed a double-digit lead in the second quarter against New Orleans and never looked back, as the Colonels went on to defeat the Privateers, 76-62, Saturday afternoon in Lakefront Arena.

Four Colonels scored in double figures, led by a career-high 18 points from junior Chrystal Ezechukwu. She was nearly unstoppable inside, making 8 of 11 from the field and helped fuel a decisive run in the second quarter.

Redshirt freshman Lauryn Bowie also had a career day, tallying 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks, and three steals. Senior Cassidy Barrios led the team with 16 boards and added 15 points, four assists and four steals en route to her league-high 15th double-double. Adrian Mann rounded out the leading scorers with 11 points and Tykeria Williams finished with a career-high eight assists.

Nicholls (13-9, 7-3 SLC) fell behind only once in the first quarter before ending the period with a 20-14 lead. The Colonels were down 9-6 but responded with a Barrios 3-pointer, a bucket inside from Ezechukwu, and another Barrios 3-ball.

The Colonels then took a 35-25 lead into the break. UNO (8-13, 4-8 SLC) had no answer inside for Ezechukwu, who scored 14 on 6-of-7 shooting. Nicholls also excelled in distributing the ball, recording 10 assists on its 12 made field goals.

In the second half, the Red and Gray went up by as much as 17 in the third before UNO made a late push. The Colonels went five minutes without a field goal in the fourth, leading to a 10-2 run for the Privateers that made it 59-52 with five minutes to go. But Bowie made two free throws and blocked a shot on the next possession, making way for an easy layup by Hamilton to end the drought. The game was never closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Nicholls held UNO to 34 percent from the field and outrebounded the Privateers, 40-37. New Orleans was led on offense by Rehema Franklin (13 points) and Shania Woods (11).

UP NEXT
Nicholls will close out its five-game road trip with two games in Texas. The Colonels will face Abilene Christian Wednesday night before heading to Houston for its second meeting with HBU.

TICKET INFO
Get season or single-game tickets now by calling 985-448-4790 or visiting nichollstickets.com. For the latest news on Nicholls women’s basketball, follow the team on Twitter @Nicholls_WBB.