THIBODAUX, La. – HCU led for more than half the game but a pair of free throws with one second to go pushed the host Nicholls Colonels to a 52-50 win over the Huskies on Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.
HCU (5-16, 0-10 SLC) took an early 7-2 lead after consecutive buckets from
N'Denasija Collins and
Hannah Fields but the Colonels (10-11, 4-5 SLC) worked their back to take an 11-9 lead with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. The Huskies then went on a 16-0 run, holding the hosts scoreless for a stretch of more than eight minutes. The final six and a half minutes of the half saw the tables turned, however, as Nicholls out-scored HCU by an 11-2 margin to make it a 25-22 Huskies' lead at halftime.
Nicholls opened the second half with seven-straight points to go up, 29-25, before Collins broke the run with a three. Following a Lexi Alexander layup,
Enya Maguire knocked down a triple to tie the game at 31-31. Alexander responded with another bucket but the Huskies again shut down the Nicholls offense for an extended stretch and went on an 11-point burst that included
Yasmin Butler's first career three-pointer and HCU took a 42-36 lead into the final quarter.
The Colonels scored the first nine points of the fourth to lead, 45-42, with five minutes to play.
Kennedy Wilson then came up with a clutch driving layup to again make it a one-point game with 4:43 remaining. Nicholls scored the next five points and with just 58 ticks of the clock left held a 50-44 lead. Over the next 52 seconds, HCU knocked down six free throws with a pair by Wilson tying the game at 50-50 with 6.6 seconds on the clock. Nicholls' Kyla Hamilton drew a foul just ahead of the buzzer, however, and made both her shot from the charity stripe for the 52-50 final.
Collins led all players with 14 points, going 4-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from three-point range and added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while also adding three assists. Wilson added 13 points for the Huskies paired with three assists while Butler set a new career-high with 10 rebounds. The 6-5 sophomore also had nine points, shooting 4-of-5 from the field.
The Huskies shot 38.3 percent (18-of-47) from the floor while limiting the Colonels to just 27.9 percent (17-of-61). The two teams were nearly even on the boards with Nicholls holding a slim 38-37 advantage but the Colonels pulled down 14 rebounds on the offensive end to HCU's five.
The Huskies return home to Sharp Gym on Thursday, Feb. 8, to host the McNeese Cowgirls at 6:00 p.m.
