Nicholls women’s basketball team falls short in turnover-marred game against Islanders

Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each committed 25 turnovers with miscues in the fourth quarter proving especially costly in the Lady Colonels’ 58-52 road loss Saturday afternoon in Southland Conference action.

The Lady Colonels 43-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Nicholls was leading 49-48 when Britiya Curtis hit a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 52-48 with 3:40 left in the game but it would prove to be the final points for the Lady Colonels in the game.

After Nicholls lost the ball out of bounds, the Islanders capitalized when Paige Allen scored on a jumper to make it 52-50.

Betzalys Delgado stepped out of bounds to give the ball back to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. A 3-pointer by the Islanders’ Mireia Aguado gave Corpus Christi 53-52 lead with 2:02 left in the game.

A foul by Kayla Hamilton led to two Alecia Westbrook free throws to extend the Islanders’ lead to 55-52.

After Lexi Alexander missed a layup, Hamilton picked up her fifth foul as Tymberlin Criswell drove through the lane. Criswell’s two free throws made it 57-52. Allen hit a free throw with eight seconds remaining to account for the 58-52 final.

The loss dropped Nicholls to 2-4 in the Southland and 8-10 overall. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 5-1 in the conference and 12-5 overall.

Each team shot less than 36 percent from the field. Corpus Christ hit on 21 of 29 free throws, including 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter. Nicholls went to the free-throw line only eight times in the game, connecting on six.

Curtis led Nicholls with 14 points. Hamilton, Alexander, and Mikayla Etienne all had 11 points for the Lady Colonels. Alexander led the team with nine rebounds.

Aguado, Allen, and Westbrook had 13 each for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Allen led the Islanders with 10 rebounds.

Nicholls jumped out to an 8-0 lead but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scored the next eight points to tie the game.

Corpus Christi took its first lead of the game at 11-10 on a free throw by Annukka Willstedt on its way to a 15-13 edge after one quarter.

The Islanders’ biggest lead of the opening half was five points at 15-10.

Nicholls rebuilt its lead to as many as four points in the second quarter at 20-16 on a jumper by Delgado and 22-18 on a Hamilton jumper.

A layup by Westbrook gave Corpus Christi a 25-24 halftime lead.

The teams traded leads throughout the third quarter until Nicholls scored the final six points of the third quarter to lead by five heading into the final period.

Etienne connected on a pair of 3-pointers. Her basket with 2:42 remaining put Nicholls on top by two points before her shot from long range with 1:41 left gave the Lady Colonels a 43-38 lead after three quarters