THIBODAUX, La. – HBU outscored Nicholls, 38-24, in the second half, shooting 59 percent from the floor in the process, as the Huskies defeated the Colonels, 66-61, in Southland Conference action Thursday night at Stopher Gym.

HBU, (6-10 overall, 2-3 SLC) winners of two straight in Southland Conference play, won its first conference game on the road since February, 2007, when the Huskies were a member of the Red River Athletic Conference.

Rachel Arthur scored 18 points against Nicholls – three shy of her career high – as she went 7-for-17 from the floor and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. Shanice Steenholdt scored 15 and Anna Strickland added 11. Strickland and Wiebke Bruns each pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, a career high for Bruns.

Emani White, the conference's leading scorer at 18.5 points per game coming in, led Nicholls (7-9 overall, 2-3 SLC) with 22 points. Jasmine Scott came off the bench to grab a team-high seven rebounds.

Arthur scored the game's first points, a layup in the paint, but White wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as she hit a three-pointer to give the Colonels a one-point lead. Nicholls eventually led by four before the Huskies came back and took a four-point lead, 13-9, following an and-one play by Arthur at the 12:52-mark of the first half.

After four-straight points by Nicholls to tie the game at 13-all, the teams battled back and forth, with four ties in four minutes before Nicholls, with the score knotted at 22-22, went on a 13-4 run for its largest lead of the game, 35-26, with 1:18 to go in the first half. A pair of free throws by Bruns cut the deficit to seven, but Scott made a layup with 24 seconds remaining to give the Colonels the nine-point lead heading into halftime, 37-28.

Arthur led HBU with eight points in the first half, while White scored 12 points for Nicholls.

HBU started the second half on fire, scoring the first eight points of the half to trail by just one, 37-36, with 17:34 remaining in regulation.

The Huskies didn't tie the game until the 15:15-mark following a free throw by Steenholdt, while her second free-throw attempt gave the Huskies their first lead of the second half, 40-39.

The teams exchanged baskets and leads, until Bruns made a free throw, followed by a free throw by Steenholdt to give the Huskies a three-point lead, 49-46, with just under 11 minutes to go in regulation. But a trey just eight seconds later by White tied the game at 49-all.

HBU went on a 13-3 run in a little over six minutes for its largest lead of the game, 62-52, with 4:24 remaining in the game. The Colonels used a 9-0 run to cut the Huskies' lead to just one, 62-61, with 48 seconds remaining. Erin McGarrachan made a layup with 22 seconds left to give HBU a three-point lead. Jenny Nash's three-pointer was off-target and the Huskies got the defensive rebound. A pair of Tayler Jefferson free throws sealed the win for the Huskies.

HBU will conclude the road trip at McNeese State Saturday at 1 pm. The game will be live on ESPN3.