JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter proved to be too much to overcome as the Nicholls State University women's basketball team fell to Jacksonville, 76-71, Friday afternoon in the JU Thanksgiving Classic.
 
The loss dropped Nicholls to 2-3 on the season and 0-3 on the road, while JU improved to 3-2 overall. The Colonels will wrap up play in the classic at 11 a.m. on Saturday against North Florida.
 
Nicholls led 31-30 at the break against Jacksonville, but early runs in the third and fourth quarters by JU turned out to be the difference in the game. JU's Sherranda Reddick hit three consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half to give Jacksonville an eight-point lead, however, the Colonels clawed back and eventually took the lead early in the fourth at 53-52 on a bucket by Cassidy Barrios. The sophomore had another big game for the Colonels, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
 
But over the next three minutes, JU reeled off the 11-0 run to grab a 63-53 advantage. Reddick had five points in the spurt, highlighted by a 3-pointer to cap the run. Hope Pawlowski (15 points) made a 3-pointer with two minutes to go to make it a six-point game, but the Colonels never came any close the rest of the way.
 
Nicholls had trouble slowing down Reddick in the loss as she finished with 33 points on 8-of-12 shooting from behind the arc.
 
Joining Barrios and Pawlowski in double figures for Nicholls were Emani White (12 points) and Taylor Morrison (10). But White, Pawlowski and Tykeria Williams (6 points, 5 steals) had a tough day shooting, combining to make just 9-of-40 from the field. Nicholls shot 34 percent for the game, compared to a 47 percent clip for the Dolphins.
 
Williams and Pawlowski turned out outstanding efforts on defense, recording five and four steals, respectively. The Colonels had 12 steals in the loss as Jacksonville had trouble with the defensive pressure early and finished with 19 turnovers.