THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team dug itself in a hole against Southern Miss with 18 first-half turnovers, and the Colonels were never able to make a game out of it as they fell, 89-57, to the Lady Eagles on Monday night at Stopher Gym.
 
The loss was the first for Nicholls (4-7) at home this season and only its third loss at Stopher in the last 16 games. Southern Miss (7-4) snapped its three-game skid and improved its all-time record against the Colonels to 14-2 with a third consecutive win.
 
Senior Jenny Nash led Nicholls with a season-high 19 points and was 5-of-9 from 3-point range, but the Colonels had no answer for USM's Tamara Jones, who led all scorers with 33 points. Jones missed only three shots from the field and connected on four 3-pointers as USM shot 52 percent from the field.
 
The two leading scorers put on a shooting clinic in the first half, with Nash connecting on 4-of-6 from long range for 14 points. Jones did most of her damage inside, scoring 16 points to give the Lady Eagles a 39-25 lead at the half.
 
Nichols led only once in the game, coming in the first minute after a Nash 3-pointer made the score 3-1. But the Colonels started turning the ball over against the Southern Miss full court pressure, and USM turned the mistakes into points to grab a 23-13 lead midway through the opening period.
 
Nash answered with another 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven, but the Lady Eagles countered with an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the half at 31-16.
 
Things did not get any better for Nicholls in the second half as USM took a 20-point lead after just four minutes. The advantage stayed in the 20s for most of the final period until the Lady Eagle bench added a few late 3-pointers to push the final margin to 32 points.
 
The Colonels finished the night with 27 turnovers, but Southern Miss also struggled taking care of the ball, recording 22. Nicholls shot 32 percent from the field and made eight 3-pointers. Along with Nash, Ekiya Gray reached double figures with 10 points and Tia Charles chipped in with eight.
 
Southern Miss made 35-of-67 from the field and had a total of 26 assists. Brittanny Dinkins joined Jones in double figures with 18 points.
 
Nicholls will begin conference play on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Lamar. Tipoff in Beaumont, Texas is scheduled for 4 p.m.