Foul trouble, cold shooting sink Nicholls women in 52-47 loss to UIW

Poor shooting and lack of offensive firepower due to foul trouble took its toll on the Nicholls women’s basketball team Thursday night at Stopher Gym in a 52-47 loss to the University of Incarnate Word.

Despite the offensive woes, Nicholls managed to hold the lead for much of the game until a key stretch for UIW in which the Lady Cardinals rained down 3-pointers.

While Nicholls was in the midst of a scoring drought of more than six minutes during a third quarter in which the Lady Colonels scored a total of six points, 3-pointers by Myra Bell, Aliyah Collins, and Nina De Leon Negron turned what had been a 29-28 Nicholls advantage into a 37-31 lead for Incarnate Word at the end of three quarters.

“We tried to switch defenses a little bit and we had some miscommunication,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said. “Some players didn’t know what we were in and that’s what happens for three straight possessions and it’s huge. It’s monumental at this point. All the games are like playoff games. I’ll take that one, and we have to continue to learn and get better from it.”

UIW scored the first four points of the fourth quarter on a layup by Jorja Elliott and two Collins free throws to give the Cardinals their biggest lead of the game at 10 points, 41-31.

Nicholls spent the remainder of the fourth quarter fighting back.

Kyla Hamiton, who was held scoreless in the first half and finished with a total of four points, hit her first basket of the game after missing her first six shots, starting the Nicholls rally.

A basket off a spin move by Britiya Curtis cut the deficit to six points. A travel violation by UIW on its next possession gave the ball right back to Nicholls. Curtis drove the baseline for a basket and the Lady Colonels were down by four points at 41-37.

Deonna Brister, who spent much of the game on the bench in foul trouble, kept Nicholls in the game down the stretch with an uncanny ability to score off of offensive rebounds.

A put-back by Brister pulled Nicholls to within 43-41.

Hamilton picked up her fifth foul, which sent Destiny Terrell to the free-throw line. Terrell hit one of two free throws and Brister again scored off of an offense rebound, allowing Nicholls to close to within 44-43 with 2:47 left in the game.

“It’s really just working hard. Just give it all you got. He (Payne) said, leave it all on the floor, leave nothing and fighting claw back to get back to a position to where we can win,” Brister said.

“That’s what we missed from (in the first half),” said Payne. “We gotta keep her out of foul trouble, and she’s got to continue to be solid not to foul.

“I’m proud of her. I’m proud of our team. The way they fought through and clawed back from down 10. Things weren’t looking good, but they just continue to fight and claw back. Those are things that we’re going to continue to build on to win these games in the tournament.”

Nicholls was never able to tie or take the lead in the closing two minutes, trailing between one and three points.

A driving basket by Cutis pulled Nicholls to within 48-47 with 11.5 seconds left in the game.

After Bell hit two free throws, a long-range shot by Traya Bruce was well wide of the basket and a foul was called against the Lady Colonels with .04 seconds remaining.

Collins hit two free throws to account for the 52-47 final.

The loss dropped Nicholls to 6-8 in the Southland Conference and 12-14 overall. UIW improved to 9-5 in the conference and 16-9 overall.

Lexi Alexander led Nicholls with 13 points and nine rebounds. Curtis finished with 11 points. Brister managed nine points and seven rebounds despite playing less than 17 minutes because of foul trouble.

Brister had two fouls within the first five minutes of the game. She sat most of the first half. Back in the lineup to start the second half, she picked up her third foul at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter and was forced back to the bench.

“It’s very, very frustrating,” Brister said of being on the bench in foul trouble. “I just knew that when I got back in, I couldn’t foul any more, but I did foul again. The fourth quarter, I just really locked in and keyed in on the fundamentals and just played solid defense,” said Brister.

Nicholls struggled on offense all game. The fourth quarter marked the first period in which the Lady Colonels shot 40 percent from the field (8 of 20). Nicholls was 20 of 61 (32.8 percent) from the field for the game and 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from 3-point range.

The Cardinals were far from a scoring machine themselves. UIW finished 15 of 45 (33.3 percent) from the field, and 4 of 16 (25 percent) from distance.

Collins led UIW with 16 points. Terrell added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds.

The only time Incarnate Word led in a low scoring, closely contested first half was at 12-11 on a jumper by Collins at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter.

The only two baskets the remainder of the quarter came from a Mikayla Etienne 3-pointer and two Alexander free throws to give Nicholls a 16-12 lead after one quarter.

Nicholls’ biggest lead in the opening half came at seven points on a basket by Alexander off an offensive rebound for a 23-16 Lady Colonel advantage with 2:51 left in the second quarter.

Despite Brister being on the bench most of the first half and Hamilton being held scoreless in the period, Nicholls only trailed by five at halftime at 25-20.

“We were guarding the basketball. We held them to 20 in the first half and I really felt good about our defense. I felt like we always could find a way to score the ball,” said Payne. “In the second half we couldn’t buy a bucket. Credit to Incarnate Word. I think it was a little bit because of them. They were playing aggressive defense. We weren’t getting deep enough into the rim to the basket to get to the free-throw line. We just have to do better at that.”