Atamah and Northwestern State host Nicholls

Nicholls Colonels (10-8, 6-5 Southland) at Northwestern State Lady Demons (9-9, 6-4 Southland)

Natchitoches, Louisiana; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northwestern State hosts Nicholls after Vernell Atamah scored 23 points in Northwestern State’s 70-63 loss to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks.

The Lady Demons are 4-2 in home games. Northwestern State ranks third in the Southland in rebounding with 34.1 rebounds. Carla Celaya leads the Lady Demons with 7.6 boards.

The Colonels are 6-5 against Southland opponents. Nicholls averages 66.8 points while outscoring opponents by 2.1 points per game.

Northwestern State’s average of 7.4 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.3 more made shots on average than the 7.1 per game Nicholls allows. Nicholls has shot at a 39.1% clip from the field this season, 1.0 percentage point fewer than the 40.1% shooting opponents of Northwestern State have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Atamah is averaging 18.4 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Lady Demons. Nya Valentine is averaging 15.5 points over the last 10 games.

Jesslynn Jalomo is shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Colonels, while averaging 10.4 points. Marie Kenembeni is shooting 50.6% and averaging 11.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lady Demons: 5-5, averaging 58.7 points, 33.1 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 6.1 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 38.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.6 points per game.

Colonels: 6-4, averaging 65.3 points, 34.4 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 12.0 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 36.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.