SLC tournament run ends for Nicholls women in quarterfinal loss to Lady Lions

Trailing 7-2 early, an 11-point run allowed Nicholls to take a 13-7 lead.

For a while, it seemed like the Lady Colonels might avoid the fate of two previous losses to Southeastern Louisiana University.

In two regular-season losses – a 66-56 defeat in Thibodaux and a 68-62 loss to close the regular season in Hammond – Nicholls trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half of each game before rallying but ultimately falling short.

It wasn’t meant to be Tuesday afternoon as the Lions responded to Nicholls’ spree with a 14-0 run to close out the first quarter to give SLU a 21-13 lead on the way to a 75-57 loss for the Lady Colonels that ended their season in the Southland Conference tournament quarterfinals in Lake Charles.

Nicholls, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, ended its season at 14-18 after first-year coach Justin Payne inherited a team that had won a total of five games the previous season and was predicted to finish last in the conference’s preseason poll.

Southeastern Louisiana (19-11), the No. 3 seed, the defending conference champion, advances to the semifinals to take on No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Nicholls trailed 36-30 to open the second half, but SLU outscored the Lady Lions 25-12 in a third quarter that featured most of the points coming off free throws as both teams reached the bonus early in the quarter.

Of SLU’s 25 points in the third quarter, 11 came from the free-throw line. The Lady Lions hit on 11 of 15 attempts in the period.

Meanwhile, Nicholls was 4 of 9 from the free-throw line in the period and finished the game shooting only 55 percent from the line, hitting on 11 of 20 attempts.

Down by as much as 16 points earlier in the third quarter, Nicholls had chipped the deficit down to 12 points before the Lady Lions scored the final seven points of the third quarter, extending their lead to 19 points at 61-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

The biggest lead of the game for SLU was 24 points – at 69-45, and 73-49 – both on layups by Kennedy Paul.

The closest Nicholls got down the stretch was 18 points on two free throws by senior Kate Manley with 53 seconds left in the game that made the score 73-49.

Lexi Alexander had 14 points for Nicholls. Senior Mikayla Etienne added 11 points. Senior point guard Kyla Hamilton closed out her career with nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Nicholls played the game without Britiya Curtis, the SLC’s Freshman of the Year, who was averaging 11.1 points per game.

Paul scored 18 points off the bench to lead all scorers. He also had 10 rebounds. Allasia Washington had 16 points, with Taylor Bell scoring 14 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Nicholls was 20 of 56 (36 precent) shooting from the field, and 6 of 18 (33 percent from 3-point range.

SLU was 27 of 56 (48 percent) from the field, and 6 of 17 (35 percent) on 3-pointers.

The Lady Lions out-rebounded Nicholls 44-27, including 32-20 on the defensive boards. SLU

had 34 points in the paint, compared to 20 for Nicholls. The Lady Lions had the advantage in bench points, 28-10.

Trailing 7-2, Nicholls scored 11-straight points on two 3-pointers by Etienne, another from distance by Deonna Brister, and a jumper by Hamilton to give the Lady Colonels a 13-7 lead.

The Lions roared back, scoring the final 14 points of the opening quarter to lead 21-13.

Leading the run for SLU was two free throws and a layup by Paul, two layups by Bell, along with two free throws and a layup by Washington.

A driving basket by Jelencia Pierre gave the Lady Lions the biggest lead of the first half at 23-14 less than a minute into the second quarter.

Alexander, who was scoreless in the first quarter, scored seven of her team’s first 10 points in the second quarter. Hamilton added a 3-pointer during the spree as Nicholls closed to within four at 27-24.

As both teams got cold from the floor down the stretch of the second quarter, the Lady Lions increased their lead to eight points with Nicholls eventually trailing 36-30 at halftime.

The Lady Lions had 18 points in the paint compared to 10 for Nicholls in the opening half.