SHREVEPORT�- Looking to break a string of bad luck, the Centenary women's basketball team travels down to 1-8 Nicholls State on Thursday. The Ladies have lost their last four games by a combined 29 points, which includes a two point double overtime squeaker by McNeese State on Dec. 5.
Against the Southland Conference this season, Centenary is 1-2 and both losses have been by two points. The Ladies will also look for their first win of the season away from the Gold Dome.
The Ladies leading scorer, junior Cierra Bush is going to miss the rest of the season because of a leg injury sustained in the McNeese game. After missing parts of the North Dakota State and South Dakota State games with a foot injury, sophomore Bethany Joseph should be back in the lineup on Thursday.
Head coach Steve Curtis will need his freshmen dynamic duo of Anne Farrell and Ashley Jackson to continue their outstanding play. Both and Farrell and Jackson have combined to score 196 points and pull down 111 rebounds, while Joseph averages 7.1 points per game.
Since November switched into December, junior Karolina Zaloga has stepped up her game statistically. Zaloga averaged just 3.3 points per game, shot 9-of-34 from the field and was 0-for-7 from outside, while her assists/turnover ratio was 0.8. Since then she averages 11 points game, is shooting 5-of-15 from 3-point range and her assist/turnover ratio is 2.8. Zaloga also picked up her first double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and giving 10 assists against McNeese.
Nicholls State got its only win of the year against Dillard in the first game of the season. The Lady Colonels played Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday, which is currently the only common opponent both teams have. Nicholls was defeated by the Ragin' Cajuns 74-47.
Leading the Lady Colonels this season is Katherine Plummer, who scores over 15 points a game, while Shelley West averages 5.9 rebounds per contest. Plummer has led the team in scoring the past four games and rebounds in two of the last four contests.
After Thursdays game, Centenary will have some time for Christmas, before it plays again on New Year's Eve against another Southland Conference, opponent Sam Houston State at 2 p.m.
