First-half lead fails to hold up as Nicholls women’s basketball team falls at SMU 69-54
After the teams traded short scoring spurts and leads in the first half, SMU changed the script in the third quarter against Nicholls, handing the Lady Colonels their first loss of the season 69-54 Tuesday morning in Dallas.
SMU scored 25 points in the third quarter after being limited to a total of 23 in the first half.
With SMU picking up the tempo and getting its transition game going to start the second half, Tiara Young scored the first six points of the third quarter, turning a three-point halftime deficit into a three-point Lady Mustangs lead at 31-25 slightly more than 90 seconds in the second half.
After a basket off the glass by Lexi Alexander of Nicholls, SMU outscored the Lady Colonels 17-4 to build its biggest lead of the game to that point at 16 points, 48-32.
Reagan Bradley got things going for SMU with a pair of 3-pointers. The only points Nicholls scored during the run came on a basket by Alexander and two Ashley Malone free throws.
A basket by Malone to close the quarter cut the Nicholls deficit to 14 points at 48-34 after three quarters.
Nicholls scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter on baskets by Alexnder, Deonna Brister, Betzalys Delgado, and Malone to cut the deficit to six points at 48-42 with 7:21 still remaining in the game.
That was as close as Nicholls would get. 9-2 run quickly rebuilt the SMU led to 13 points at 57-46.
The biggest lead for SMU in the game was 19 points.
With Nicholls trailing by 19 with less than a minute remaining in the game, Malone scored out the scoring on a pair of free throws and a basket for the 69-54 final.
The loss, which dropped Nicholls to 3-1 on the season, was the first for Lady Colonels coach Justin Payne. SMU improved to 3-0 on the season.
Malone led Nicholls in scoring with 13 points. Alexander tossed in 12 points, and Delgado 10. Delgado had eight rebounds and eight assists. Brister added seven rebounds.
Young led all scorers with 24 points. Amirah Abdur-Rahim and Tamia Jones each had 14 for SMU. Reagan Bradley added 10 points.
T.K. Pitts had 10 rebounds for SMU. The 6-foot-3 Abdur-Rahim, the younger sister of former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim had eight rebounds.
SMU shot 43 percent from the field compared to 39 percent for Nicholls. The Lady Mustangs were 16 of 22 from the free-throw line, while Nicholls was 5 of 6
Nicholls was outrebounded 37-34. The Lady Colonels committed 20 turnovers and SMU 17. The Lady Mustangs scored 30 points off turnovers and Nicholls 17.
In a low-scoring first quarter, each score managed a four-point lead.
SMU scored the first four points of the game to take the early lead before a six-point spurt at the end of the opening quarter allowed Nicholls to take an 11-7 lead.
The six-point run to close the quarter came on a follow-up basket by Violette Skipworth and two hoops by Delgado. Delgado’s second basket with 1:04 left in the quarter came on a reverse layup off the glass.
SMU opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run to regain its four-point advantage at 17-13. Abdur-Rahim provided the first three baskets and Young the next two, including a jumper and a drive to the basket.
Freshman Britiya Curtis hit a jumper coming out of a timeout to end the Lady Mustangs run. Brister followed with a 3-pointer and Nicholls was back on top by a point at 18-17.
SMU followed by scoring five points on a basket by Chantae Embry and three free throws by Abdur-Rahim to give the Lady Mustangs the biggest lead for either team in the first half at five points with a 23-18 edge.
Nicholls closed out the half by scoring the final eight points, including a 3-pointer by Curtis and a Curtis jumper for a 26-23 Lady Colonels lead at halftime.
Curtis finished the half with seven points.
Abdur-Rahim was a force inside for SMU in the first half, scoring 10 points while pulling down six rebounds and blocking two shots.
Nicholls shot 36.7 percent from the field in the first half and SMU 31. The Lady Colonels committed nine turnovers in the first half and SMU 11.
