MONROE, La. - The ULM women's basketball team is on a five-game win streak and will be looking to continue to roll through non-conference play on Friday (Dec. 14) when they play host to Nicholls State. The Warhawks will have three more non-conference match ups before Sun Belt Conference play begins in early January.
With Sunday's win over Mississippi Valley State, ULM (5-2) is on its first five game winning streak since early in the 2006-07 season, when the Warhawks won nine straight games from Nov. 17 to Dec. 9.
Lauren Fitch provided the boost for ULM on Sunday. Fitch, who started the first two games of the season at SMU and Texas Tech before suffering an injury, came off the bench to score a season-high 19 points against MVSU. Fitch connected on 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including a perfect 5-of-5 day at the free throw line.
The Warhawks' five game winning streak has coincided with the best five game stretch of Destini Lunsford's career at ULM. The junior guard had a four-game streak of career-high scoring totals end against MVSU, but still reached double figures for the fifth straight game with 10 points. Lunsford had just three double figure scoring efforts over her first two seasons at ULM.
Nicholls (4-5) started the season with four losses but reeled off four straight wins before last Tuesday's setback at Tulane. For the season, the Colonels are averaging 60.1 points per contest and allowing 67.0. During the four-game winning streak, Nicholls did not allow an opponent to score more than 57 points.
Senior Cassidy Barrios has been one of the nation's best scorers this season, ranking 22nd in the NCAA with 20.7 points per game. The next four leader scorers for the Red and Gray are separated by only 0.6 points per game. Junior college transfer Chrystal Ezechukwu has been solid in her first season with the Colonels, ranking second on the team with 6.4 points and 5.1 rebounds. Destiny Collins is adding 6.0 points, followed by Airi Hamilton (5.9) and freshman Adrian Mann (5.8).
The meeting will be the 50th all-time between the programs, with ULM holding a commanding 41-8 advantage. Â In the last two matchups, ULM came away with a 69-57 win in Monroe in 2015, but Nicholls avenged the loss the next season with a 73-54 win in Thibodaux.
Seven games into the season, the Warhawk defense stacks up well statistically with the rest of the Sun Belt Conference. ULM ranks first in scoring defense (60.1 points per game), second in field goal percentage defense (35.8), three-point field goal percentage defense (24.8) and blocks (5.0 per game).
Friday's game is available via live stream and stats, links to both available at ULMWarhawks.com. Fans are encouraged to follow along with the action on Twitter at @ULM_WBB.Â
