Inability to score early in fourth quarter sinks Nicholls women in loss at Texas A&M-Commerce

The Nicholls women’s basketball team simply could not score in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, leading to a 71-67 loss at Texas A&M-Commerce in Southland Conference action Saturday afternoon.

Nicholls fell to 2-5 in the SLC and 8-11 overall. Commerce evened its record at 4-4 in the conference and 9-9 overall.

The Lady Colonels managed only one basket in the opening 6:55 of the fourth quarter, turning what had been a 56-52 lead entering the period into a deficit of seven points at 65-58.

The seven-point spread was the largest lead of the game for Commerce. Nicholls once led by 10 points in the first half.

Nicholls’ inability to score came with the Lions going on a 13-2 run.

Olivia Russell scored six points, Jordyn Newsome five, and Ahmya Boyce two to account for Commerce’s points. The only basket in that span for Nicholls came on a layup by Kyla Hamilton that had temporarily cut the Lady Colonel deficit down to one point at 59-58.

A basket by Russell to close out the run gave Texas A&M-Commerce its biggest lead with 3:19 left in the game.

Britiya Curtis ended the spree with two free throws with 3:05 left in the game.

Trailing 65-62, Nicholls appeared on its way to forcing a shot-clock violation as the teams scrambled for the ball, but with two seconds left on the shot clock, Daelyn Craig was called for her fifth foul. Mia Deck hit two free throws to put Commerce on top by five points with 21 seconds left in the game.

Mikalya Etienne hit a 3-pointer with one second left to make it 69-67. Deck hit two free throws to ice the win for Commerce.

Curtis led Nicholls with 16 points. Etienne tossed in 13, while Deonna Brister and Craig had 10 each. Craig had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Deck led all scorers with 20 points. Newsome finished with 19, Russell 12, and Jordyn Beaty 10. Russell had 10 rebounds for Commerce.

A 3-pointer by Curtis and a layup by Alexander gave Nicholls an early 5-0 lead.

Nicholls would go on to lead by as many as 10 points at 18-8 when Alexander scored in the paint at the 3:26 mark of the first quarter.

Commerce cut the Nicholls lead down to two points on a pair of free throws by Deck before Craig hit a free throw with two seconds left to give Nicholls a 21-18 lead after one quarter.

The Lady Lions took their first lead of the game when a jumper by Newsome following a Nicholls turnover gave Commerce a 22-21 edge at the 3:57 mark of the second quarter.

Newsome’s basket was part of a 9-0 run that allowed Commerce to grab its biggest lead of the half at six points at 27-21 with 5:20 left before halftime.

After a 3-pointer by Etienne tied the game 29-29, the teams traded baskets down the stretch.

A layup by Beck off an offensive rebound with 39 seconds remaining led to a 35-35 tie at halftime.

Unlike the fourth quarter, Nicholls came out strong to open the third period.

A spin move in the lane by Craig, a 3-pointer by Curtis, a basket in the paint by Brister, and a 3-pointer by Hamilton was countered only by a basket by Beaty off an offensive rebound as Nicholls built its biggest lead of the second half of five points at 45-40.

Nicholls held a 53-52 edge when Etienne 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead to four points heading into the fourth quarter.