CONTINUING a ridiculous week of scoring in the NBL1, Sutherland Sharks star Lauren Nicholson dropped a 51-point double-double to lead her side to a high-scoring overtime win over the Inner West Bulls in the East Women’s competition.

It was the final round of the home and away season for the East Women’s season in 2025, with finals set to kick off this weekend. It was Sutherland’s final outing of the season, and although they were still a mathematical chance of making the postseason, it relied on too many other results to make it a realistic possibility.

On the other hand, the Bulls were fighting to keep their finals hopes alive, a win ahead of the Sharks and in a tight battle to secure eighth spot. Inner West was going to have to record two wins from its two outings in the final round, and it started with Friday night’s clash at Sutherland Basketball Stadium.

The Sharks managed to pull off the slight upset, holding on to defeat the Bulls by eight points in overtime on the back of a career night from Nicholson in front of the Sutherland home crowd, capping off the team’s season in style.

Sutherland Sharks (110) def. Inner West Bulls (102)

Lauren Nicholson – 51 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, three steals

It was a complete performance from the 32-year-old Nicholson, who rounded out her campaign with the Sharks by dropping a 50-piece in a mesmerising offensive display, single-handedly dragging her side to victory.

She started the game getting her teammates involved with her passing, finding Laci Hawthorne on the cut for a nice layup with a well-timed dish, before getting involved as a scorer with a three-point bomb herself to continue Sutherland’s strong start. After dishing out another assist to Hawthorne in the paint, Nicholson recorded another triple before backing it up with a nice driving layup in a scoring flurry from the Sharks star.

Her next couple of attempts from long range were wayward, so she resorted back to attacking the cup and laying the ball in on the drive, doing so on a couple more occasions, including a buzzer-beating finish to close out the term to cut the margin to six after the Bulls got on top.

The second term was reasonably quiet from Nicholson, who took a bit of a back seat on the scoring side of things, recording just four points for the term. They came in the form of a pair of free throws and a crafty reverse layup that showed her excellent feel around the rim to finish the half with the margin sitting at four points.

It took the Sharks superstar a while to get going in the second half, not recording another made basket until midway through the third frame. However, once she got going, Nicholson proved unstoppable and a thorn in Inner West’s quest for a finals spot. It all started with a nice midrange jumper that was swiftly followed up by a smooth turnaround jumper on back to back possessions, while her ability to draw contact was on display shortly after alongside two converted free throws in a scoring flurry.

It was her finish to the third quarter that lit the fire in the home side, who were in danger of letting the game slip away if not for the offence of Nicholson. Two triples in the span of a minute showed how influential she can be on the contest, while she beat the buzzer again to close out the third quarter with a pull up jumper to cut the margin to just four points and keep her side in the match.

She started the fourth quarter as she finished the third, with Nicholson opening scoring for the term with her fourth three-pointer of the match, before backing it up with another pair of made free throws to tie up the match. She gave the Sharks the lead with another midrange shot a couple of minutes later, but it was her ability to force the defence into committing fouls that was the driving force of her fourth quarter performance.

She was extremely productive at the free throw line, and had the chance to make a win extremely difficult for the Bulls when she headed to the charity stripe with the opportunity to put the Sharks up by three, but she unfortunately missed one of her attempts and the Bulls were able to force overtime down the other end.

Nicholson was not one to cry over spilt milk however, and continued to be more productive than any other player in the extra period. The defence simply could not guard her without fouling, and she put her team in the box seat with some successful trips to the free throw line, before sealing the result with another three-point bomb to put the result to bed.

However, she was not done yet, and ticked over the 50-point margin with a pair of free throws in the final minute of the match, capping off a dominant offensive display in fitting fashion in the last scores of the contest.

Nicholson finished the match with 51 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals, playing all 45 minutes while shooting 14/24 from the field, 6/10 from behind the arc and 17/18 from the charity stripe in a tireless display that will be remembered for years to come.