Final Stats HUNTSVILLE, Texas  – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team fell behind early at second-place Sam Houston State, trailing by as much as 18 in the first half and never came closer than eight the rest of the way en route to a 74-60 loss Thursday night at Johnson Coliseum.

Jasmine Scott led Nicholls (16-10, 8-7) off the bench, scoring 14 points and coming up a rebound shy of a double-double for the second straight game. Scott, who is second in the Southland in field goal percentage, made 6-of-8 from the field. KK Babin contributed with 12 points and matched her season-high with nine assists, while Alisha Allen added 11 points.

Much like the first matchup, Nicholls had no answer inside as the duo of Sequeen Thomas and Angela Beadle combined for 44 points and 21 rebounds. Thomas paced Sam Houston (15-12, 11-4) with 25 points while Beadle had a game-high 12 rebounds. Sam Houston outrebounded Nicholls 42-27, including 14 on the offensive glass.

The Colonels faced a huge deficit in the opening minutes for the second straight game as Sam Houston came out firing, taking a 18-3 lead with just four minutes off the clock. The Bearkats' lead stayed at double-digits for the rest of the half, going into the break up 36-26.

In the first possession of the second half, Emani White, who made her first career start in place on injured LiAnn McCarthy, sliced through the defense for a layup to pull Nicholls within eight. But the Bearkats, who moved into a first-place tie with Lamar, answered with a field goal almost every time Nicholls cut the lead to single digits.

With less than four minutes left, Scott knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 63-54, but the Bearkats held Nicholls to six points the rest of the way to pick up the season sweep with a 14-point victory.

Nicholls was held to under 40 percent shooting for the back-to-back games, finishing just short at 39.6 percent. The Colonels struggled from 3-point range, making only 3-of-16.

Nicholls will wrap up its road schedule Saturday at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before hosting its  final two games at Stopher Gym next week. Tipoff at American Bank Center is scheduled for 5 p.m.