Nicholls women hope to heat up shooting on chilly trip through Texas in pair of road tests

The Nicholls women’s basketball team suffered from cold shooting performances in each of their last two losses of 69-63 against the University of New Orleans, and 52-49 to Lamar last week.

Nicholls combined to shoot 33 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range in the two outings. In the most recent loss to Lamar, the Lady Colonels hit on only 3 of 12 shots (15.3 percent) in the opening quarter.

The losses dropped Nicholls to 1-3 in the Southland Conference and 7-9 overall as the Lady Colonels look to heat up on a chilly road trip through Texas.

Nicholls is slated to take on the University of Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in San Antonio, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Despite the recent results, Nicholls coach Justin Payne said his team remains upbeat.

“We’re still confident,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said. “We feel like this is the same ballclub that beat Tulane and South Alabama. We’re playing really close games. We’ve just got to continue to learn how to finish, and we’re in that phase of learning who we are. This is the reboot, so we’re continuing to learn again how to win and how to finish these.

“In terms of our psyche, we’re great. Our girls are excited about the next opportunity. We’re all young together, so we’re continuing to learn one another. We’re having fun with one another, so we feel that is important and we’re feeling great. We want to continue to get better and better. We feel like we’re really, really close to doing something special.”

UIW goes into the week 2-2 in the Southland and 9-6 overall.

The Cardinals opened conference play with losses to Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, before rebounding with wins of 70-62 over Texas A&M-Commerce and 63-57 over Northwestern State.

UIW has gone from one to three double-figure scorers since the start of league play.

Aliyah Collins, who is averaging 12.5 points overall, has upped her scoring to 16 points per outing through four SLC games.

“She’s a guard that can get to the rim at will and to the free-throw line. We want to make sure we have bodies in front of her, make her shoot over us on the top of the defense,” Payne said.

Destiny Terrell is averaging 13.8 points and Nina De Leon Negron 10.5 points. Terrell is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and De Leon Negron 7.0.

“Destiny is very versatile,” said Payne. “She catches on the parameter and can play inside out at that elbow. She’s really good. She’s very active on the boards. She’s going to do a lot of that and can shoot the mid-range jumper. We have to make sure we continue to box her out.

“The other one (De Leon Negron), she’s really good. She’s really looking to score the basketball. She can shoot it for the three, mid-range. She can get to the rim.”

Since the start of conference play, the Cardinals per-game scoring average has remained at 61 points per game, but their defense is allowing 63 points per outing in conference play, while their overall average is 53.6.

Nicholls also has three players in double-figure scoring in conference play.

Lexi Alexander is averaging 16.5 points per game, Mikayla Etienne 13.5, and Kyla Hamilton 10.8. Daelyn Craig is averaging 7.0 rebounds per outing to lead the team, while Deonna Brister is pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi entered the week 3-1 in the Southland.

The Islanders own conference wins over Houston Christian, UIW, and New Orleans. After losing 61-58 to Southeastern Louisiana, Corpus Christi defeated UNO 61-54 in its most recent outing. The Islanders host McNeese on Thursday.

Alecia Westbrook paces the Islanders in scoring at 14.8 points per game in conference play. Mireia Aguado is tossing in 11.3 points per contest, and Violeta Verano 10.

Westbrooks leads Corpus-Christi in rebounds, averaging 8.8 per game, and Paige Allen is pulling down 8.3 rebounds per outing.

“Royce Chadwick is a great coach. He has been doing it for a long time,” said Payne. “His teams are always well-coached, defensive minded and we’re going to have to make sure we’re on our A game as well for that game as well. First and foremost, we need to be established on the inside, making sure we can get to the free-throw line and get in the paint.

“As we do with all these other teams, we’ve just got to make sure we’re defending at a high level. We need to keep that game within the ‘50s and I think we will have a great shot.”