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HOUSTON – HBU women's basketball fell to Nicholls, 73-61, in Southland Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym.
"We came out and played an incredible first half today," head coach
Donna Finnie said. "Then second half, we stopped attacking. We were on our heels and didn't attack their zone the way we should have. We talk every day in practice about sustaining intensity and we didn't get that at all in the second half."
The Huskies (4-9, 0-3 SLC) were led by junior guard
Amanda Johnson, who shot 61.5 percent from the floor, scoring 17 points. Sophomore guard
Sydney Carr put up 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Sophomore forward scored nine points, brought down six boards and had eight assists, while junior center
Veronika Kirienko had seven points and six rebounds. Freshman guard
Megan Valdez-Crader had seven points, and led the Huskies with a career-high nine rebounds and five assists.
Cassidy Barrios led Nicholls (7-8, 2-2 SLC) posting a double-double with 24 points and 20 rebounds. Tykeria Williams added 15 points, four steals, and three rebounds, while Tia Charles scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out five assists, and had four steals.
HBU shot 40.3 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from the 3-point range and 53.8 percent from the free-throw line. Nicholls shot 41.7 percent from the field, 17.6 percent from behind the arc and 71.4 percent from behind the line. Nicholls outrebounded HBU 45-37.
The Huskies led early 8-2 in the first quarter, after shots by Calver, Kirienko, and Johnson. Nicholls scored back-to-back buckets, before Carr scored the next four points. Nicholls scored the last four points of the first to cut the Huskies lead to two points, 13-11.
The Huskies shot for a 7-0 run to go up by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, 33-22. Nicholls made the next six shots, but HBU ended their run with a jumper by Johnson and a layup and jumper by Carr to end the half with a Husky lead, 39-28. Johnson led all scorers with 13 points, while Carr contributed six points. Calver handed added four points, three rebounds, and handed out six assists alone in the third.
Nicholls started off the third quarter with 12-2 run bringing the Colonels within one point of the Huskies. After a shot from the 3-point range by the Colonels, Nicholls came up with the lead, 43-42. Kirienko put up two points, but the Colonels answered back with the next four. From behind the arc, Taylor evened the score, but the quarter ended with a 4-2 run by the Colonels, including shots by Daub, 49-52.
The Colonels scored first in the fourth quarter, but HBU answered back with a seven point run that started with a 3-pointer by Valdez-Crader. The Huskies were behind by one, 59-58. After a jumper by Kirienko, Nicholls scored the next 14 points, 58-73. With seconds to go, Valdez-Crader shot for the Huskies final effort from behind the arc.
HBU starts a two-game road slate, starting at Abilene Christian to take on Abilene Christian Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. and ending at Sam Houston State Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. The Huskies will return for back-to-back home games Wednesday, Jan. 17 against Southeastern Louisiana and Saturday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m.
