Colonels selected to 2018 Preseason NIT

The Nicholls State University women’s basketball team is starting to reap the benefits of being the Southland Conference Champions.

The Colonels accepted an invitation this past week to compete in the 2018 Preseason Women’s NIT Tournament, an honor which was announced by Triple Crown Sports last week.

In the tournament, Nicholls will be matched up with SEC opponent Auburn – a game set for Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. at Auburn Arena.

Being invited to the Women’s NIT is part of a three-game guarantee for all 16 teams in the field.

Among the 16 teams, nine are playing in the event for the first time in school history. All of the games are hosted on campus sites and the championship game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Nov. 18.

To many, the matchup with Auburn make look like a mismatch against the Colonels – at least on paper.

But Nicholls proved last year that games aren’t decided on paper for a reason.

The Colonels started slow in Southland play, but exploded late in the season, carrying momentum into the Southland Conference Tournament where they won three-straight close games against the league’s powerhouse programs to take home the title and also an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“This was a complete buy-in from this team,” coach DoBee Plaisance said after the Southland Conference Tournament Championship. “They’re my warriors.”

A lot of those warriors are also back in 2018-19, which should make the Colonels a very competent foe.

Nicholls returns their two top scorers from 2018-19 and several other letter winners off last year’s 19-win team.

The leading returnee is Vandebilt graduate and rising senior Cassidy Barrios, who averaged 17.3 points per game and made an impact in literally every, single statistical category for the Colonels en route to winning Southland Conference Player of the Year.

Barrios scored 14 points with four rebounds and two assists in the team’s NCAA Tournament loss against Mississippi State. For the season, she also led Nicholls in made field goals (176), made free throws (172), points (570), rebounds (300), steals (95) and blocks (48).

The Colonels also return Tykeria Williams (13.2 points per game) and Airi Hamilton (5.3 points per game), among several others.

“This is just the beginning,” Plaisance said after the team’s season ended in Starkville.

Against Auburn, Nicholls will be facing an SEC foe, yes. But they’re a team that the Colonels may match up favorably with. The Lady Tigers are coached by sixth-year coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. The team finished 14-15 last season. Auburn returns four starters and was a quality defensive team last year, ranking No. 2 in the country in steals.

But against the top powers in the SEC, the Lady Tigers were overmatched and outclassed, finishing with just a 5-11 record in league play.

The other teams in the Women’s Preseason NIT Tournament are below.

Yale at Northern Illinois

Niagara at Iowa State

Stephen F. Austin at Miami

Morgan State at Hartford

Montana State at Marquette

Texas State at New Mexico

Delaware at Northern Iowa

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LANDRY NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN

A prominent Nicholls softball player has chops both on the playing field and also in the classroom.

Pitcher Megan Landry has been named a 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-American Second-Team member, as announced by the College of Sports Information Directors of America last week.

Landry has a 4.0 GPA in secondary education – English major. She was one of 29 student-athletes in the 33-player list to have a GPA of 3.9 or higher.

Landry is also a dominant performer on the mound, posting a 22-7 record in the circle with a Southland-best 1.94 ERA. The Central Catholic graduate was second in the conference in opposing batting average, limiting foes to a .209 mark against her, while also recording 127 strikeouts.

“I’m very proud of this honor that Megan Landry has earned,” said Nicholls softball coach Angel Santiago. “There are not many student-athletes in the country who can excel at a high level on the field and most importantly be able to show this type of excellence in the classroom. Self-motivation, quality preparation, time management, spiritual mindfulness and just pure competitive toughness are the traits by which Megan leads. She is a complete student-athlete who has fully taken advantage of her education at Nicholls State University.”

Landry was a junior this past season.

She has one more year of eligibility with the team.

The Nicholls softball team won the Southland Conference regular season championship and the team figures to compete favorably again in 2019 with several returnees back.

Nicholls women’s basketball

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