THIBODAUX, La. - After falling behind by as much as 25 points in the third quarter, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team made a late rally against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi but came up short, falling 59-50 Thursday evening at Stopher Gymnasium.
The Colonels (4-20, 1-12 SLC) were behind by double figures for most of the game before putting it together in the fourth quarter. Nicholls trimmed the deficit to nine with six minutes to go and again at the two-minute mark, however, could not come any closer.
The loss was the ninth straight for the Red and Gray and sixth consecutive in the series against the Islanders. AMCC improved to 15-10 overall and 10-4 in the Southland.
Traya Bruce played all 40 minutes for the Colonels, scoring 12 points on 5 of 12 from the field.
Adrian Mann cracked double figures for the second time in the last three games, totaling 10 points.
Lexi Alexander chipped in with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Both teams finished the game under 40 percent from the field, but the Islanders had a slight advantage from the 3-point line. AMCC connected on 7 of 25 from 3-point range while Nicholls made just 3 of 19. The Islanders drained three 3-pointers at the tail end of the first quarter for a commanding 19-7 lead.
AMCC held a 32-17 advantage at the break and pushed it to 48-23 in the third after a 3-ball by Sasha Shishkina with three minutes remaining.
But over the next seven minutes into the fourth quarter, the Colonels outscored the visitors, 20-4. Nicholls ended the quarter with a bucket-and-one by
Kayla Keshmeshian and two baskets by Mann for an 8-0 run. The defense then picked up a few steals that led to fastbreak layups early in the fourth to bring the deficit to single digits. But the eventual victory for the Islanders would never be in doubt.
Eleven Islanders scored in the win with Jaeda Whitner leading the team with 12 points.
UP NEXT
Nicholls continues its homestand with a rematch against UIW on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
