Women’s Basketball: Nicholls falls in final seconds to McNeese, 69-68

THIBODAUX, La. – A layup by McNeese with 11 seconds remaining would end the Nicholls State University women’s basketball team’s perfect record at home as the Colonels dropped a heartbreaker to the visitors, 69-68, Wednesday night in Stopher Gym.

Nicholls (9-8, 3-2 SLC) entered the contest with a 6-0 mark in Thibodaux and looked to be on its way to another win when Cassidy Barrios scored in the final minute to put the Colonels ahead by one. But after the team’s traded empty possessions down the stretch, McNeese’s Damilola Balogun found Bre’Ashlee Jones for an open layup for the 69-68 lead.

Barrios, who recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds, drove down the lane but turned it over and the Colonels fouled with 0.9 seconds remaining. McNeese (3-13, 1-4 SLC) threw the ball away on the inbounds and it went untouched, giving Nicholls to ball back under its own basket. Airi Hamilton then lobbed a pass to Lauryn Bowie in the key for a last-second shot, but it fell short as the Cowgirls notched their first conference win of the season.

Nicholls outshot McNeese from the field (47%-42%) and had a four-plus margin in rebounding, but 3-point shooting turned out to play a major factor in the outcome. The Colonels finished 1 of 9 while the Cowgirls hit 9 of 24, with Regan Bolton doing most of the damage. She tallied a game-high 25 points and connected on 7 of 14 from long range.

The Colonels jumped out to an 8-0 lead and ended the quarter up 18-13 after Barrios tipped in a basket as time expired. McNeese led briefly in the second before Nicholls headed into the half with a 33-32 advantage.

In the third, Nicholls led by five points twice but could never push the lead any further. Bowie scored twice inside in the final minute to keep the Colonels on top, 51-48.

Bolton quickly tied it up to start the fourth, canning another 3-pointer. She knotted the score again at 59 with another triple midway through the quarter before Tykeria Williams sank the Colonels’ lone 3-ball for a 62-61 lead.

Down the stretch, the lead changed hands four times, with Barrios giving Nicholls the edge twice. She hit a pair of free throws with 1:34 to go and after McNeese went back up on a layup by Balogun, her basket inside made it 68-67 with just under a minute remaining.

With 30 seconds left, Williams had a great look from behind the 3-point line to put the game away, but the ball rimmed out. The lone made 3-ball for the Colonels was a season-low, marking the first time they did not make at least four from long range. But in five conference games, Nicholls is shooting just 25 percent from 3-point range.

Freshman Adrian Mann joined Barrios in double figures with 10 points and added six rebounds and four steals. For McNeese, Balogun had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

UP NEXT
Nicholls will head north to take on Central Arkansas Saturday, Jan. 19. Tipoff at the Farris Center is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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