Late rally couldn’t overcome poor shooting as Nicholls falls to Lady Demons

Despite ice-cold shooting for the majority of the game, Nicholls made a late run but ultimately fell short in a 55-47 loss Thursday night against Northwestern State in Natchitoches.

The result left both teams 7-9 in Southland Conference play. Nicholls fell to 13-15 overall while Northwestern State improved to 11-16 as the teams split the season series.

Nicholls trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half.

After Nicholls cut the margin down to 13 points going into the fourth quarter, a three-point play by Karmelah Dean less than a minute in the final period gave the Lady Demons a16-point lead at 49-33.

Dean’s layup would prove to be the last field goal of the game for Northwestern. The Lady Demons’ final seven points off the game would come on free throws.

Nicholls turned up the defensive intensity and turned around what had once been a big deficit on the offensive boards to get back in the.

The Lady Colonels used free throws of their own, plus a few field goals, to get back in the game.

From the 9:08 mark down to 5:21 left in the game, Nicholls went on a 14-1 run to get to within three points.

Lexi Alexander, who finished with a double-double for the second consecutive game, scored seven of the points in the spree.

The only point for Northwestern State during the run came on a Jasmin Dixon field goal.

When Mikayla Etienne hit a 3-pointer at the 5:21 mark, Nicholls trailed 50-47.

During the run both Deonna Brister and Britiya Curtis fouled out for Nicholls.

The frigid shooting the Lady Colonels demonstrated to open the game, returned at the end. Etienne’s 3-pointer would prove to be the last points Nicholls could muster.

Northwestern State scored the final five points of the game – all on free throws – to take the win.

Alexander finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Etienne had 10 points for Nicholls. Before fouling out, Brister pulled down 10 rebounds.

Dean and Jiselle Woodson led Northwestern State with 15 points each. Woodson also had 10 rebounds.

Both teams had poor shooting nights.

Nicholls finished 17 of 69 (24.6 percent) from the field, and 3 of 19 (15.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Northwestern State was 19 of 54 from the field (35.2 percent) and 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) from distance.

Each team had 46 rebounds. Nicholls had the edge on the offensive boards 17-11, while Northwestern had a 35-29 advantage on the defensive boards.

Nicholls was 1 of 12 to open the game before Violette Skipworth scored on a layup, yet the Lady Colonels trailed by only three points at 7-4 at the 3:32 mark of the first quarter.

The cold first-quarter shooting would continue as Nicholls finished the period 2 of 18 from the field. The Lady Colonels also committed five turnovers in the opening 10 minutes of play.

Meanwhile, Northwestern State scored the final eight points of period to lead 15-4 after one quarter.

Woodson had jumper and two free throws during the spree, Nia Hardison a jumper and a free throw, and Jordan Todd added another free throw as the Lady Demons led by 11 points after one quarter.

Trailing 17-4, Nicholls got back in the game with a nine-point run to close to within 19-13 at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter.

An Etienne layup got the spree started. Kyla Hamilton hit the game’s first 3-pointer and followed with a jumper. Two free throws by Curtis made it a six-point deficit but that would be a close as Nicholls would get the remainder of the half.

Following two free throws by Alexander, Nicholls went the next 4:20 without scoring.

Etienne hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left before halftime and the Lady Colonels trailed by only six points.

Etienne’s basket would be the final points of the half.

Dean scored the final eight points of the half when she hit on two 3-pointers and a layup to give the Lady Demons their biggest lead of the game at the time at 14 points, making the score 32-18 at halftime.

The shooting woes continued for the Lady Colonels, who hit only 6 of 31 shots (19.4 percent) from the field, and 2 of 9 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range.

Nicholls was out-rebounded 29-18 in the half, including 21-14 on the defensive boards. The Lady Colonels committed nine turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The biggest lead of the game for Northwestern State came on a Hardison layup at the 5:17 mark of the third quarter that put the Demons up by 19 points, 42-23.

Hamilton scored the final four points of the third quarter, including a jumper at the 1:16 mark to pull Nicholls to within 46-33 entering the fourth quarter.