THE BASICS
Score: ULM 54, Nicholls 73
Teams: ULM (1-3)
Nicholls (1-2)
Location: Thibodaux, La. (Stopher Gym)
Thibodaux, La. - The ULM women's basketball team was dealt a 54-73 loss to Nicholls State on Saturday afternoon.
TURNING POINT
Tied at 14-all, Nicholls State went on a 15-4 run to give the Colonels an 11-point lead in the second quarter. The Warhawks were unable to make up the difference as Nicholls State grew its lead throughout the remainder of the contest.
NOTEABLES
-Gabriella Cortez finished with a career-high 31 points and posted the only double-double for the Warhawks with 11 total rebounds. Cortez shot 10-of-14 from the floor, knocking down five three-point baskets. The junior also added three assists to her stat line.
-Stephanie Ratliff grabbed 13 of ULM's 36 total rebounds as she finished with two offensive and 11 defensive rebounds.
-ULM outrebounded Nicholls 36-30, and pulled down 28 defensive rebounds as a team.
-ULM boasted more points off the bench (39 compared to Nicholls' 19) and a higher field goal percentage (46 percent compared to Nicholls' 41 percent), but Nicholls State finished with more points in the paint (28-22), more second chance points (18-11) and more points off of turnovers (28).
-ULM shot 85 percent from the free throw line as the Colonels gave the Warhawks 15 total chances at the line. ULM limited Nicholls at the line with only seven chances.
-ULM held its only lead early in the first quarter. The game was tied two different times and the lead changed three.
FROM COACH DOW
Opening Statement: A couple of the statistics that were very telling were the difference in turnovers and that they got 70 shots up whereas we only got 39 shots up. When the opponent gets 31 more attempts at the basket obviously that's going to hurt you in the long run. Along with that is the points off turnovers category. That stat was pretty much the margin in the game, outscoring us 28-7. I think we shot well at 46 percent and 40 percent from three, but to turn it over 28 times you put yourself in a big hole. The other part that led to the differential in the number of shot attempts was the fact that they got 16 offensive rebounds and we only came away with eight. We also only had one person in double figures so there was very little balance from us in the scoring perspective. Nicholls had four players in double figures. All of those things added up to a loss.
About the players: Nicholls did a great job of limiting Stephanie Ratliff and her touches on the ball. Clearly we want to get her going, but we never got into any kind of rhythm. Really pleased with the performance of Gabby Cortez. Just a phenomenal game for her to have 31 points, shoot it as well as she did and to come away with 11 rebounds as well. Certainly one of the things we are seeing with our newcomers is that they are still trying to figure out how consistent they need to be with their effort and their focus to get themselves the best chance to be successful. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later. It was good to see Destini Lunsford play today. She saw her first action of the season coming off of an injury.
Where do we go from here: We need to reflect on what needs to be better. I think it essentially comes down to how well we can defend, rebound and take care of the ball. I think we need to come out with a little more confidence. We've got to find a way to still lock in, be focused, move on to the next play and find a way to be confident even when things don't go our way.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks return home to fit in one more game in before the Thanksgiving holiday. ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Tuesday night to host LSU-Alexandria at 6:00 p.m.
