NATCHITOCHES, La. – HCU trailed by four at the half and couldn't make up the deficit in the second half, getting as close as two, before falling in Southland Conference women's basketball action to the Northwestern State Lady Demons inside Prather Coliseum on Thursday evening.
The game got off to a sluggish start with the first score of the game coming on a
Julija Vujakovic layup with 6:29 on the clock in the first quarter. While the Huskies (8-11, 3-5 SLC) scored first, they found themselves trailing 8-4 three minutes later. An
Enya Maguire three-pointer and a couple of
Lauryn Mapusua free throws put HCU back ahead, 9-8, with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Northwestern State (8-10, 4-4 SLC) scored the final five points of the quarter, however, to lead 13-9.
The Lady Demons maintained a lead throughout the second quarter with the score differential reaching as high as nine, 26-17. HCU made a late push with
N'Denasija Collins knocking down a pair of free throws and
Kennedy Wilson draining a long three to cut it to 26-22 at the half.
Collins made a layup on the Huskies' opening possession of the half to pull HCU within two but the Lady Demons answered to push their lead back up to eight, 36-28, after a Candice Parramore three. HCU responded with an 8-2 run capped by a
Kennedy Wilson triple to get it back to a two-point game, 38-36, with 4:31 to go in the third quarter. Over the ensuing four and a half minutes, however, NSU held the Huskies scoreless and built its lead up to 11, 47-36, before Mapusua made a free throw with two seconds on the clock to end the third with the Lady Demons leading 47-37.
The Huskies couldn't get closer than nine for much of the fourth quarter until Mapusua went on a personal 5-0 run to pull HCU within seven, 55-48, with 3:40 left but that was the end of the Huskies' scoring as they failed to get another point on the board the rest of the way.
Collins led the Huskies with a double-double comprised of 16 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 5-of-15 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Mapusua added 14 points off the bench while
Kennedy Wilson had 10.
Abbey Sutherland tied a career-high with 11 rebounds to lead all players.
The Huskies will travel to Commerce, Texas next for a Saturday, Jan. 28, rematch against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions at 2:00 p.m.
