Poor starts to second, third quarters dooms Nicholls women in 73-62 loss to UAB

The start of quarters was not particularly good for the Nicholls women’s basketball team.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham scored the first eight points of the second quarter to build its biggest lead of the first half at 12 points.

It took the remaining time left in the quarter, but the Lady Colonels rallied back to manage a 32-32 tie at halftime.

UAB (7-2) scored the first seven points of the third quarter as part of a 16-2 run to give the Blazers a 14-point lead at 48-34 less than five minutes into the period.

“As a team, we usually struggle in the third quarter to keep our energy. That’s something we’re taking as a lesson from this game. We just need to go out hard and strong, and whatever is happening in the first half, translates to the second half,” said sophomore Lexi Alexander.

The Lady Colonels (6-5) were unable to recover, eventually losing 73-62 Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.

“The third quarter really stuck out. We felt like 24 (Tracey Bershers) hit some big threes, which we knew could happen if we left her open. We just gave her too many looks at the rim. We knew No. 1 (Mia Moore) would get hers. We didn’t want (Bershers) to get hers. That’s something we fell short, especially that third quarter, and I think that’s why you saw us get down like that,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said.

UAB’s biggest lead of the game came at 24 points at 71-47 with 6:14 left in the game following a basket by Maddie Walsh.

Mikayla Etienne’s 3-pointer at the buzzer made the final spread 11 points, representing the closest Nicholls was able to get the remaining of the game.

Alexander, who took an elbow to the face late in the first half and played the second period with a bandage over her face, led Nicholls in scoring with 18 points, 12 in the first half.

“The only way I was allowed to play was if I had padding on my cheek. With the padding on my cheek, it was hard to see on my lower left side. I was trying to not let it affect me and I just wanted to play,” Alexander said.

“I really think that was a blow for us,” Payne said of Alexander’s injury. “It kind of knocked her out of her game. She did a great job being tough and coming back and playing for us, and she was just going through some pain.”

Britiya Curtis had 15 points for Nicholls and Deonna Brister 11. Brister also had eight rebounds to pace the Lady Colonels.

Moore led all scorers with 19 points for UAB. Bershers had 18 points, and Maddie Walsh 15. Moore also had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first quarter.

UAB’s initial four-point lead in the first quarter came at 6-2 on a 3-pointer by Mia Moore in the opening minutes of the period.

The biggest lead in the first quarter was also four points when Brister scored on a three-point play on a jumper and a free throw to give the Lady Colonels a 14-10 edge with 3:04 left in quarter.

Walsh hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to give the Blazers a 20-16 lead after one quarter of play.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Moore and Walsh and a Walsh layup to open the second quarter quickly extended UAB’s lead to 12 points at 30-18.

Nicholls began to rally. A jumper by Alexander, a driving basket by Betzalys Delgado, and a three-point play by Alexander on a basket and a free throw narrowed the gap to six points at 30-26 at the 5:58 mark of the second quarter.

The Lady Colonels inched to within two points before Kyla Hamilton drove the baseline for a layup with 43 seconds remaining in the second quarter on the way to a 32-32 tie at halftime.