Women's Basketball: Dec. 21 Scoreboard
Nicholls 57, UTSA 49
Alabama 87, New Orleans 58
TCU 79, Sam Houston State 55
Nicholls 57, UTSA 49
LUBBOCK, Texas – With the help of a career-high 23 points from freshman Tia Charles, the Nicholls State University women’s basketball team fought back from a 10-point deficit in the first half to outscore University of Texas at San Antonio 35-19 in the final 20 minutes as the Colonels snapped their three-game skid with a 57-49 win on Sunday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena.
Nicholls (4-6) used a total team effort on defense, picking up 15 steals while holding UTSA (4-6) to just 33 percent from the field and 2-of-16 from behind the arc. Along with leading the offense, Charles finished with a career-best six steals.
Nicholls started out in a hole, falling behind 9-0 before answering with its own 9-0 run. Shay Arnick accounted for the Colonels’ first four points on a pair of buckets inside and Charles scored the next five to even the game at 9-all at the 11:49 mark.
UTSA countered with another run, scoring 10 straight points over the next three minutes. Charles then ended the drought with a jumper and nailed a 3-ball to pull Nicholls within six. Two free throws by the Roadrunners sent the Colonels into the break down 30-22.
In the first five minutes of the second half, Arnick and Charles combined for eight points, capped on a 3-pointer by Arnick to make the score 34-32 UTSA. But once again, the Roadrunners answered with a quick five points, taking a 39-32 lead one a basket-and-one by Karma King, who had a team-high 13 points for UTSA.
Over the next nine minutes, the Colonels dominated the court. A pair of 3-pointers by Jenny Nash and Taylor Morrison brought Nicholls within two, and Ekiya Gray powered a layup inside to even the score at 40 with nine minutes remaining.
On UTSA’s next possession, the Colonel defense kept the Roadrunners from scoring, despite three shot attempts. Charles then gave Nicholls the lead when she banked home a 3-pointer.
Leading 43-42 with 5:42 to go, Nicholls pulled away with six consecutive points to cap a 17-3 run. Following a steal and layup by Charles, Nash hit a jumper before going under the basket for a reverse layup, making the score 49-42 with 3:17 left in the game.
UTSA made a final push to cut the lead to 49-46, but Nash went inside once again to give Nicholls a five-point cushion with less than two minutes to go. With UTSA forced to foul, the Colonels made six free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Nash, who played the entire 40 minutes, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Arnick scored 12 off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting. Nicholls shot 42 percent for the game, helped by its 52 percent clip in the second half.
Nicholls will have a week off for the holidays before hosting Southern Miss on Monday, Dec. 29, in the team’s 2014 finale. Tipoff at Stopher Gym is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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Alabama 87, New Orleans 58
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The New Orleans Privateers women's basketball team (1-7) started cold and could not recover in an 87-58 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide (10-4) at Foster Auditorium on Sunday afternoon.
The Privateers fell victim to an early 9-0 run that was keyed by Hannah Cook who scored eight of those points. New Orleans then got triples from Ariele Davis on back-to-back possessions to cut the Crimson Tide's early lead to 12-6, but Alabama then ripped off the next nine points and led by 15 after the first seven minutes.
Alabama seized complete control in the first half as the Privateers went through a scoring drought that lasted nearly seven minutes before a jumper by Alexis Martin ended the cold spell. Alabama scored 20 straight points during that stretch. At the half, the Crimson Tide were ahead 44-18 and had a 29-8 advantage on the boards.
In the second half, New Orleans was able to find most of their offensive success on drives to the paint, but the hill was too tall to climb as the Privateers dropped all three games of the road trip. New Orleans more than doubled their point total from the first half and shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.
Randi Brown led the Privateers with 14 points and shot 5-of-11 from the field. Alexis Martin joined in double figures in scoring with a season-high 12 points and had eight trips to the free throw line. Davis had nine points, all coming on three-pointers in the first half.
Briana Hutchen led the Crimson Tide on the afternoon, posting a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Quanetria Bolton also added 16 points along with eight boards and Cook scored 12 points while going 3-for-6 from three-point range.
The Privateers will return home for the final non-conference game of the season against Kent State on Dec. 30. Tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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TCU 79, Sam Houston State 55
FORT WORTH, Texas – Guard Taylor Dorsey scored a career best 21 points to lead Sam Houston as the Bearkats fell 79-53 in a non-conference women’s basketball game Sunday afternoon at TCU.
Dorsey went 6-for-11 from the field including a pair of three-point shots and was 7-of-10 at the line. Amanda Barnes added 16 points and Morghen Day scored 10.
Zahna Medley led the Horned Frogs with 23 points. Donielle Breaux posted 14 points as TCU upped its season mark to 7-3. Sam Houston drops to 1-8.
The Bearkats held an early four-point lead but saw TCU roar back to take 40-25 lead at intermission thanks to 51.6 percent shooting (16-of-31) in the first half. Sam Houston was out-scored only 39-30 in the second half.
Saundra Guillory and Shadijah Moore led the Bearkat women on the boards with rebounding totals of eight and seven, respectively.
TCU’s height advantage paid off as the Horned Frogs out-scored Sam Houston 30-16 in the paint. TCU scored 25 points off the Kats’ 26 turnovers.
Sam Houston takes a break for the Christmas holidays before returning to action next Sunday with another road game at Wichita State in Kansas.
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