Nicholls women’s team has lots to be enthused about facing pair of home games

The Nicholls women’s basketball team has quickly found things to be enthusiastic about only a few games into the Southland Conference schedule.

Picked to finish last in the preseason league standings, Nicholls has gotten off to a 1-1 start in SLC play. The Lady Colonels rallied from a deficit of as many as 14 points before fading in a 66-55 home loss to league favorite Southeastern Louisiana before winning at Houston Christian 73-55.

“There is some excitement about conference,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said. “There’s some excitement about playing our style of play within our locker room. There’s some excitement about our chemistry and I just love it and I want to continue to grow with this team, offensively and defensively and continue to put four quarters together.”

“When we put it all together, the scoring is not a problem, we’ve just got to make sure we’re making our open shots,” the coach continued. “Mikayla Etienne has been a huge part of that. She’s giving us some swagger, some confidence as well on the perimeter, not only to herself but to her teammates as well and made it a little bit easier for Lexi (Alexander) on the inside.”

With her perimeter shooting, Etienne produced 17 points in the win over HCU and Alexander’s inside play gave her a team-high 22 points.

Up next for Nicholls (7-7 overall) is a pair of home games against the University of New Orleans and Lamar. The Lady Colonels host UNO at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Lamar at 1 p.m. Saturday.

UNO goes into the week 4-9 overall and 1-1 in Southland Conference play.

The Privateers opened SLC play with an 88-78 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, followed by a 54-44 loss to Southeastern Louisiana in their most recent outing.

DeArica Pryor leads UNO in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per game. Jayla Kimbrough is the only other player averaging double figures at 10 points per outing for a team averaging 58 points per game while allowing 70. Zoe Cooper leads the team in rebounding, averaging 4.9 rebounds per game.

In UNO’s conference opener, it was Brianna Ellis and Alexis Calderon who dominated the scoring for the Privateers. Ellis scored 24 points and Calderson 22 to pace UNO.

The Privateers overcame a 12-point first half deficit in the win.

In the game against Southeastern Louisiana, UNO led 42-41early in the fourth quarter but managed only two more points the entire period in falling to the Lions.

“They’re gonna get it spread out,” Payne explained. “They’re very, very athletic. Jayla Kimbrough, she’s a remarkable player. DeArica Pryor is a returning all-conference player.

“You look at Justice Ross, a transfer from Minnesota. They got it pretty spread out. Nahja Scott, who’s really good on the interior. They’re an athletic group.”

The Nicholls coach said UNO reminds him of Southeastern Louisiana.

“They kind of play like Southeastern in terms of their athleticism and their physicality,” Payne said. “They are going to make the game about turnovers and, trying to a little bit of ‘bully-ball’ is what we call it – with their offensive rebounding. Their physicality is just unbelievable.

“We are going to have to meet that and make sure that we’re ready to play a physical game, make sure that we’re taking care of the basketball.”

Limiting scoring chances for the Privateers, Payne said, will be among the keys for Nicholls on Thursday.

“Their stuff is pretty spread out and we just want to make sure we limit them to one-miss shot opportunities and not let the offensive rebounding, second-chance points and points off turnovers be a critical part in this game. We want to make sure we focus on those two things and then I think our half-court defense will speak for itself,” said Payne.

Lamar entered the week 8-4 overall and 2-0 in the Southland with wins of 53-70 over the University of Incarnate Word and 73-56 over Northwestern State.

Sabria Dean scored 29 points in each of Lamar’s SLC wins.

“Dean is an incredible player. – crafty, can shoot it, just play off the bounce, play off the ball screen. scream. She’s good. We got our work cut out for us,” Payne said.

Lamar rallied from 11 points down in the win over UIW.

Dean was 12 of 19 from the field while also pulling down six rebounds. Akasha Davis recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 16 rebounds.

“She’s a great post player,” Payne said of Davis. “She demands the ball inside and she rebounds at a high level. She’s got a variety of moves that she can go to. You almost got to take it away from her.”

“If their guards score, then it’s going to be a tough night that way, too,” Payne added. “It’s going to be a tough matchup, but hey, I like our kids. I think we’re going to be up for the task. It’s one of the reasons why we brought Daelyn Craig from Georgia Southwestern. I felt like she can meet any of that physicality and defend any of their best players. She did it for us at the Division II level nationally.”

Craig is coming off a 10-rebound performance against HCU.

“We will put a great game plan together for them,” Payne said of facing Lamar. “They have a great team, but I like what our team is doing and I like our chances versus anyone. We’re going to continue to put a great game plan together and let’s see where the chips fall.”