THIBODAUX, LA ? Tiffany Jones hit a free throw with eight seconds to play to give Nicholls State an 81-80 Southland Conference women's basketball victory over Sam Houston State Saturday afternoon at Stoffer Gymnasium.
Brittany Brooks hit a three point basket with 20 seconds left to tie the game for the seventh time, 80-80. Jones missed her second free throw and Whitney Smith got the rebound for the Bearkats but Leasa Ailshie's three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.
Smith led Sam Houston State (1-15, SLC 0-3) with 22 points, going 9-of-15 from the field. Brooks added 19 points and Lydia Gonzales scored 12.
Katherine Plummer led Nicholls State (3-10, SLC 1-1) with a career high 30 points. Shelley West scored 11 and Nikina Hill added 10 for the Colonels.
The lead changed hands 13 times during the contest. Sam Houston State held a six-point lead with 6:02 to play after Deltrice Daniel's jumper. Tiffany Lewis got the lead back for Nicholls with a three point basket with 3:14 to play to make the score 76-75.
Nicholls State jumped out to a 15-5 margin to start the contest. The 10 point lead was the largest by either team during the contest. Sam Houston fought back to tie 21-21 with nine to play and led 39-37 at intermission as Britney Harris scored on a lay-up with four seconds remaining before halftime.
Sam Houston had its best shooting performance of the season, going 33-of-58 from the field for 56.9 percent. Nicholls shot 26-of-64 for 40.6 percent. The Colonels out-rebounded Sam Houston 37-32. Gonzales led the Bearkats on the boards with eight rebounds.
"We played an awesome game," Head Coach Brenda Nichols said. "We executed our offense, played team ball, and got great looks. When you shoot 56 percent, you're supposed to win. We made a few too many turnovers and mental errors at the wrong times. "
Box Score
NICHOLLS STATE 81, SAM HOUSTON STATE 80
1/12/08 at Thibodaux, LA
SAM HOUSTON STATE (1-15, 0-3)
Smith, Whitney 9-15 2-3 22; Brooks, Brittany 8-16 0-2 19; Gonzales, Lydia
5-7 2-2 12; Bennett, LaToya 4-4 0-1 8; Daniel, Deltrice 3-4 0-0 7; Ford,
Kristin 2-3 2-2 6; Harris, Britney 2-5 0-0 4; Lynch, Ronishia 0-0 2-2 2;
Sanders, Katie 0-1 0-0 0; Ailshie, Leasa 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-58 8-12 80.
NICHOLLS STATE (3-10, 1-1)
PLUMMER, Katherine 10-15 10-12 30; JONES, Tiffany 3-7 5-8 11; WEST, Shelley
3-8 3-4 11; HILL, Nikina 4-9 1-1 10; BRYANT, Christie 2-9 2-2 6; FEBUS,
Barbara 2-6 0-0 4; GREEN, Maggie 1-7 0-0 3; LEWIS, Tiffany 1-2 0-0 3;
WASHINGTON,Dominique 0-0 2-2 2; KEFU, Funaki 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 26-64 24-31
81.
Sam Houston State............. 39 41 - 80
Nicholls State..................... 37 44 - 81
3-point goals--Sam Houston State 6-13 (Brooks, Brittany 3-6; Smith, Whitney
2-2; Daniel, Deltrice 1-1; Harris, Britney 0-1; Sanders, Katie 0-1; Ailshie,
Leasa 0-2), Nicholls State 5-15 (WEST, Shelley 2-5; LEWIS, Tiffany 1-1;
GREEN, Maggie 1-3; HILL, Nikina 1-1; FEBUS, Barbara 0-1; BRYANT, Christie
0-1; JONES, Tiffany 0-1; PLUMMER, Katherine 0-2). Fouled out--Sam Houston
State-Daniel, Deltrice, Nicholls State-None. Rebounds--Sam Houston State 32
(Gonzales, Lydia 8), Nicholls State 37 (WEST, Shelley 5; HILL, Nikina 5;
PLUMMER, Katherine 5; BRYANT, Christie 5). Assists--Sam Houston State 15
(Smith, Whitney 4; Brooks, Brittany 4), Nicholls State 9 (HILL, Nikina 4).
Total fouls--Sam Houston State 24, Nicholls State 14. Technical fouls--Sam
Houston State-None, Nicholls State-FEBUS, Barbara. A-201
