So, she conjured a memory from practice.

“Usually I’m kind of a player who, like, I let the pressure get to my head a lot but tonight, I really feel like I kind of tried to focus in on just me and Sydney Plummer, No. 11, at practice — you know, just shooting our free throws, laughing, no one else is on the court, there’s no refs, there’s no players, there’s no audience,” Nichols said.

The Davis High senior, calm as could be, made both shots and the No. 6 Darts survived 54-52 against No. 11 Lehi to advance to Monday’s 6A state quarterfinals at the Huntsman Center.

The Darts (16-6), leading 52-49 late, committed a backcourt violation and Lehi’s Ellie Hill made a game-tying 3-pointer 10 seconds later, the second of two double-digit leads Davis coughed up.

It set up the final sequence with 17.8 seconds left where Davis junior T’Maea Eteuati, the team’s leading scorer for the season, drove to the baseline and passed to Nichols in the middle. Nichols was fouled going up and made the free throws look rather easy.

“I don’t know if I can really wrap my feelings around that. I mean, of course I’m very grateful that we came out with the win — credit to Lehi for how hard they played and how well-coached they are, it was an incredible game,” Davis coach Nicole Waddoups said.

Davis started slow but led 29-21 at halftime thanks to a 13-2 run in the second quarter fueled by Eteuati (eight points for the game) and Kate Willard (15 points).

The Darts led by 13 in the third quarter, then 42-34 going to the fourth despite a long scoreless streak.

Nichols stretched and snagged a Chloe Peery pass on a fastbreak to convert a basket, got fouled, then had to wait 5 minutes to shoot the free throw because the buzzer in the gym malfunctioned and wouldn’t turn off.

Nichols, who sat the first half of the season as a transfer, made the free throw after the buzzer was reset to put Davis up 48-37, only for Lehi to quickly cut the Darts’ lead to 48-47.

Willard’s two free throws for Davis made it 50-47 and Eteuati’s putback made it 52-49.

The Pioneers had the wind at their backs with the game-tying 3 until Nichols’ free throws helped the Darts survive and advance.