Hamilton knocks down late free throws to give Nicholls women 52-50 win over HCU

With the score tied 50-50, Kyla Hamilton went to the free-throw line with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game.

Hamilton’s first free throw hit the rim and dropped in. The second was nothing but net, putting Nicholls up by two points.

“The first one, it was nerve wracking. I saw it a little short, but I had that roll and then the second one, I was confident. So I felt good after that first one,” Hamilton said.

A shot by Houston Christian’s Kennedy Wilson bounced off the glass, allowing Nicholls to hang on for a 52-50 win.

The win, the second of the season for Nicholls over HCU, improved the Lady Colonels to 4-5 in the Southland Conference and 10-11 overall. The Huskies remained winless in conference play at 0-10 and 5-16 overall.

“We had a couple of key players and I’m so proud of that trio,” said Nicholls coach Justin Payne “Traya Bruce coming off the bench, key minutes, man hitting a couple of big threes and her defense still helped us hold on. Then we put Daelyn Craig on the five player. I thought she was huge late and then (Britiya Curtis) coming in late finishing off of dribble drives, she has some key finishes down low.

“Then how about Kyla Hamilton, our senior? I told her I was coming to her in the huddle. She got fouled and had to make the free throws. I know her percentages weren’t high, but I told her I said we believe in you.”

Nicholls overcame a 3 of 20 shooting performance in the first 13:34 of the game, with the Lady Colonel defense being the difference in the second half. Going to the press and double-teaming, along with limiting the Huskies to one shot per possession, Nicholls put itself in position to win despite the cold shooting start.

“We really talked about we gotta continue to mix it up and get after them with our press and trapping the ball. We wanted to kind of speed the game up a little bit and not let them just run set after set after set. They did a really good job but shout out to our players, they really stepped up in key moments,” Payne said.

“We knew we had to pick it up,” Hamilton said. “That first half, we came out a little slow. So that second half we really needed to lock down and focus on our defensive stops first. We weren’t really making shots, but we knew that would come. We just had to make sure we got stops first.”

“We knew that they couldn’t handle pressure well, so the traps was the best way to go. That’s why our coach put us in it,” said Craig.

Trailing 42-36, the Lady Colonels turned up the defensive heat in the fourth quarter.

Nicholls forced HCU into four-straight turnovers to open the fourth quarter, turning three into points, allowing the Lady Colonels to take a 45-42 lead.

A double-team by the Lady Colonels forced a tie-ball situation, with the possession arrow being in favor of Nicholls. Bruce hit a 3-pointer that gave her team the three-point edge.

Britiya Curtis’ pull-up jumper with 57 seconds remaining gave Nicholls its biggest lead of the game at six points, 50-44.

HCU hit six free throws down the stretch to tie the game 50-50.

The final two free throws came by Wilson when she was fouled driving to the basket to tie the game with 6.6 seconds left in the game.

Hamilton followed suit. She drove the lane and was fouled by HCU center Yasmin Butler. Her free throws gave Nicholls its second win in a row and a sweep of the two-game series with the Huskies.

Hamilton was the only double-figure scorer for Nicholls, finishing with 10 points. She also had seven rebounds, six coming in the first half. Craig had nine rebounds to lead the team, taking on Butler, HCU’s 6-foot-5 center.

N’Denasija Collins of HCU led all scorers with 14 points. Wilson added 13 for the Huskies. Collins and Butler had 10 rebounds each for the Huskies.

Nicholls missed its first seven shots of the game before scoring on a 3-pointer by Doanna Brister. Brister followed with a layup moments later, tying the game 7-7.

The Lady Colonels managed only four more points as Nicholls was only 3 of 16 (18-8 percent) from the field in the opening quarter, trailing 18-11 heading into the second quarter.

HCU scored the first five points of the second quarter on a driving layup by Collins, two Hannah Fields free throws, and a Jo Oly free throw, to take its biggest lead of the game of 12 points at 23-11.

Nicholls went on an 11-2 run to close the half to inch within three points at halftime at 25-22.

The run by Nicholls included 3-pointers by Hamilton, Mikayla Etienne, and Bruce. The Bruce 3-pointer with 58 seconds in the half came after Hamilton kept a possession alive when she sneaked along the baseline for an offensive rebound under the basket. Hamilton had six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

“Those are those little plays. I’m not really a big guard or anything, so anytime I can crash the boards and sneak past the guard to get a rebound, that’s what I try to do. I think that’s why (Payne) keeps me on the court with effort. He always tells me, he either says look to get inside or look for the shooters when that happens. And I saw Traya, who is a great 3-point shooter,” Hamilton said.

Nicholls opened the second quarter similar to the first, missing its first four shots. At that point in the game, the Lady Colonels were 6 of 20 (15 percent) from the field. Nicholls ended up shooting 7 of 32 (21.9 percent) from the field in the opening half.

Nicholls flipped the script to begin the second half, getting off to a quick start after being unable to buy a basket at the start of the first and second quarters.

A three-point play by Kyla Hamilton on a driving layup and free throw after she was fouled, and a fast-break basket by Hamilton set up by a steal by Daelyn Craig turned what had been a 25-22 halftime deficit into a 27-25 Nicholls lead.

Although Nicholls had gained the momentum, the Lady Colonels could not come seem to produce a basket to give them a two-possession lead.

Meanwhile, the Huskies went on one of their best runs of the game late in the third quarter.

Trailing 33-31, HCU scored 11-straight points on layup by Jo Oly, a basket by Kennedy Wilson, a 3-pointer by Yasmin Butler, a fast-break bucket by Enya Maguire and a layup by Butler gave the Huskies a 42-33 lead.

Mikayla Etienne hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to allow Nicholls to close the gap to six points heading into the fourth quarter.

Nicholls missed its first seven shots of the game before scoring on a 3-pointer by Doanna Brister. Brister followed with a layup moments later, tying the game 7-7.

The Lady Colonels managed only four more points as Nicholls was only 3 of 16 (18-8 percent) from the field in the opening quarter, trailing 18-11 heading into the second quarter.

HCU scored the first five points of the second quarter on a driving layup by N’Denasija Collins, two Hannah Fields free throws, and a Jo Oly free throw, to take its biggest lead of the game of 12 points at 23-11.

Nicholls went on an 11-2 run to close the half to inch within three points at halftime at 25-22.

The run by Nicholls included 3-pointers by Kyla Hamilton, Mikayla Etienne, and Traya Bruce. The Bruce 3-pointer with 58 seconds in the half came after Hamilton kept a possession alive when she sneaked along the baseline for an offensive rebound under the basket. Hamilton had six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

“Those are those little plays. I’m not really a big guard or anything, so anytime I can crash the boards and sneak past the guard to get a rebound, that’s what I try to do. I think that’s why (Payne) keeps me on the court with effort. He always tells me, he either says look to get inside or look for the shooters when that happens. And I saw Traya, who is a great 3-point shooter,” Hamilton said.

Nicholls opened the second quarter similar to the first, missing its first four shots. At that point in the game, the Lady Colonels were 6 of 20 (15 percent) from the field. Nicholls ended up shooting 7 of 32 (21.9 percent) from the field in the opening half.