Career highs by Alexander, Curtis allow Nicholls women to win home finale

The Nicholls women’s basketball team jumped out to a 14-2 lead less than four minutes into the game to spark an 89-77 win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday afternoon at Broussard Court at Stopher Gym.

The win not only improved Nicholls to 7-9 in the Southland Conference and 13-14 overall, it also allowed seven departing players to go out winners in their final game at home.

Honored before the game were Kyla Hamilton, Mikayla Etienne, Kate Manley, Traya Bruce, Amelia Sandie, Ashley Malone, and Adrian Mann.

“It felt amazing,” said Hamilton. “We all came out ready. We were all excited for it.”

“It’s been a journey,” Manley said. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity. I’m just so proud of my teammates tonight and it was a big win for us.”

Lexi Alexander, Nicholls’ sophomore post player, and freshman guard Britiya Curtis seemed to make it personal quests to make sure the departing players went out a winners, each finishing with career highs of 28 points.”

“It’s just the love that we have for each other. I felt it was my responsibility to send them out right with the last home game, and we needed a win,” said Alexander.

“My mindset was just getting the ‘W’ for them and finishing their last home game strong,” Curtis said.

“We talked about wanting to send the seniors out on a great note. They played like it. They played extremely hard. We went them out on a great note just showing that the foundation has been laid for this program and we will continue to go up and up,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said.

After the Lions had whittled the deficit down to two points in the middle of the second quarter, Alexander scored six-straight points to put Nicholls on top by eight points and a lead the Lady Colonels would not relinquish.

“Once it got down to two, I knew it was time for us to pick it back up,” said Alexander. “We couldn’t let them catch up. We were not going to let them take the lead. I knew if I had my ability to go score, I was going to take that to help my team.”

Alexander ended the first half with 14 points and finished with 15 rebounds for a double-double.

Curtis ignited the quick start for Nicholls, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to open the game on her way to a career-high in scoring.

The freshman guard said she knew from the start that she was offensively on her way to a big night.

“I felt it. As soon as I had eight in the first, I was like, ‘yeah, I want to get it started and keep going and going and going,’ until we can get the win,” she said.

Leading 43-38 at halftime, Nicholls built its biggest lead of the game at 19 points twice in the third quarter. The first time came at 61-42 at the 3:11 mark of the period on two Manley free throws.

Nicholls maintained a double-digit lead throughout most of the game until a driving basket by Boyce made it a seven-point game at 84-77 with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Nicholls scored the final five points of the game on free throws. Three of the free throws came from Hamilton, allowing her to close out her final home game by reaching double-digit scoring with her 12 points.

Deonna Brister added 10 points.

Jada Hood led Texas A&M-Commerce with 14 points. Ahmya Boyce added 13, while Cora Harvath and Jordyn Beaty chipped in 10 apiece.

Commerce fell to 6-9 in the Southland and 11-14 with the loss.

While younger players helped the departing seven Nicholls players to go out as winners, the veterans were appreciative of the efforts on their behalf.

“We love getting the ball to them,” Hamilton said of Alexander and Curtis. “We trust them. We say that every day. Even when they get down, we trust them to keep shooting, follow your rebounds. There are good days and bad days, and they both were on tonight and I’m so happy for them.”

“I think Tabby (Curtis) amazing tonight. Lexi, I’m so proud of them. They were the reason we won, but it was a team collective thing,” said Manley.

Curtis opened the game by hitting a 3-pointer. After Jasmine Payne countered with a basket for Commerce, Curtis hit another 3-pointer and the Lady Colonels were off to the races early in the encounter.

Curtis’ second 3-pointer was part of an 11-0 run. When Alexander scored a basket, Nicholls was up 14-2 at the 6:23 mark of the opening quarter.

Boyce drove the lane for a basket with one second remaining in the first quarter, leaving Nicholls with a 27-21 lead after one quarter.

Texas A&M-Commerce rallied to within two points in the second quarter when a driving basket by Horvath made it 35-33 at the 5:50 mark of the second period.

Alexander took over at that point, scoring on a short jumper, a shot off the glass with her left hand while driving the lane, and a 3-pointer to increase the Nicholls lead back to eight points at 41-33 on the Lady Colonels’ way to a 43-38 lead at halftime.

The win for Nicholls came against a team that went into the game with a similar record both in the Southland and overall, which should serve the team well going into the stretch drive of the regular season, according to Payne.

“It was huge for us because we are still playing for seeding right now. Like I told the girls, the only way you can get experience in the tournament is for us to treat these games like playoff games. We’ve been treating them like playoff games that if we lose, we go home. They stepped up to the task today,” the Nicholls coach said.