Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls State
SFA's Cold Second Half Fuels Nicholls Upset
2/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2011
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Ladyjacks shot just 23 percent from the field in the second half and were held to its second-lowest scoring output in Southland play on Wednesday night, dropping a 75-62 decision to Nicholls at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The win is just the third for the Colonels (8-15, 3-7 SLC) in 41 games in the all-time series with the Ladyjacks (8-14, 5-4 SLC) and was fueled by the trio of Alisha Allen, KK Babin and Rischanda Bickham who scored a combined 60 of the Colonels 75 points.
SFA got 15 points and eight rebounds from Toni Davis and 14 points and six assists from Ebony Alexander, but the Ladyjack starting five combined for just 16 points including leading scorer Tammara Marion scoring just four points on 1-for-16 from the floor including 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. In all, SFA's bench outscored the Colonels by a 46-6 margin.
The Ladyjacks led nearly the entire first half, hitting four triples - two from Alexander as half of her 12 first-half points - and were up as much as seven on after a 7-1 run midway through the half. But the Colonels refused to give into the early SFA push, shooting 40 percent from the field and trailing just 41-40 at the break behind 12 of Babin's game-high 22 points.
But the second half began cold for SFA and remained that way throughout as the Ladyjacks missed their first eight shots from the field to open the half and were only able to muster three free throws from Davis in the first 4:23. Meanwhile, the Colonels took their first lead of the half on a jumper from Allen on their first possession and built up a 51-44 lead before Davis finally put in the first field goal of the half for SFA at the 13:52 mark.
However, the Ladyjacks could never cut the lead below five without the Colonels having an answer with either Allen, Babin or Bickham scoring Nicholls' final 18 points.
SFA will next take on UTSA for the second time this season on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. from the Convocation Center in San Antonio. The Ladyjacks will be looking to avenge a 66-56 UTSA win in Nacogdoches on January 15.
-SFA-
