From rags to riches! Colonels reach NCAA Tournament

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March 14, 2018

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March 14, 2018

Confetti rained down from the catwalk of the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, as a massive sea of red huddled around one of the arena’s basket in a sea of jubilation.

In the middle of it all stood Nicholls State University women’s basketball coach DoBee Plaisance.

She was crying. They were tears of joy and jubilation.

The Nicholls women’s basketball team made school history this weekend, winning the Southland Conference Tournament for the first-time in school history – earning their only-ever automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonels won three games in three days during their journey.

The last was a battle – a thrilling, hard-fought win over Stephen F. Austin which saw the Colonels rally from 12 down at halftime to earn a 69-65 victory.

The reward was the trophy and the NCAA bid – the icing on the cake for a multi-year program turnaround headed by Plaisance when she took the job at Nicholls in 2008.

At that time, Nicholls was one of the worst teams in America.

Now, after a decade of blood, sweat and tears, they’re champions – for the first time in school history.

“This was a complete buy-in from this team,” Plaisance said after the win, still emotional from what had just happened on the floor. “They’re my warriors.”

Warriors indeed.

Nicholls trailed by 12 points at halftime of the Championship Game and it looked at times that the Colonels had simply run out of gas.

It would be understandable if they did bottom out.

Nicholls was also behind in the Semifinals against No. 1 Lamar before a furious rally to earn a win and a spot in the Title Game.

But the Colonels found that last bit in the reserves and used it to make history.

Against Stephen F. Austin, it was the 3-pointer that helped the Colonels’ rally.

Nicholls made 7 3’s in the win, including several in a third-quarter swing which saw the Colonels outscore the Lumberjills 26-15 to trim a 12-point deficit down to 1 – a 55-54 Stephen F. Austin advantage.

Junior guard and Southland Conference Player of the Year, Cassidy Barrios made 3 of those 3-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points.

“The third period was the difference for us,” Stephen F. Austin coach Mark Kellogg said. “We lost a bit of our identity after halftime.”

Down the stretch, Nicholls won it with its defense.

In the fourth quarter, the Colonels suffocated Stephen F. Austin, limiting them to 4-of-14 shooting from the field in the final 10 minutes of play.

That defense allowed the Colonels to jump into the lead at the 5-minute mark on a layup by Airi Hamilton, which put Nicholls up 62-60.

Battle-tested as they are, Stephen F. Austin didn’t falter. They cut a six-point Nicholls lead down to just 1 with 2 minutes to play after both a layup and 3-pointer by Riley Harvey.

But in winning time, the Colonels made the plays necessary to chop down the nets.

After the Lumberjills’ run, Nicholls had an empty possession, which put the Lumberjills in position to take the lead with 1:08 to play.

But out of a timeout, Nicholls got a steal, then a layup by Hamilton to go up 68-65 with 30 seconds to play.

After another timeout, Stephen F. Austin tried again and got several looks at the basket before a foul by Hamilton with 4 seconds to play.

But Stephen F. Austin’s baseline out of bounds play resulted in a turnover, a foul and free throws by Tykeria Williams, which sealed the deal.

“Defense always travels,” Plaisance said, crediting the late-game effort of her team.

After the game, Nicholls celebrated.

As well they should.

For Plaisance, the journey is sweet – a rags to riches story that is as good as any in the history of Nicholls State University athletics.

She cut down her piece of the nets with her daughter, WNBA standout Theresa and her son, UNO forward Scott Jr, by her side. Husband, Scott Sr., was also in attendance to celebrate the family’s big day.

When Plaisance took this job, she preached selling a vision to recruits – the idea that at Nicholls, they could come and pave their own way.

The wins and progress grew steadily.

The goal always remained the same – to cut the nets in Katy.

“God willing, that’s where we’ll be someday,” Plaisance told The Times in an interview in 2012.

“It doesn’t end until we play and win that last game,” she said again in 2014.

Plaisance’s personal journey aside, this team also has a story of its own to tell.

Nicholls was picked to finish ninth in the conference during the preseason and many people around the league wrote the team off earlier this season when the Colonels were buried in a 4-game losing streak, which dropped the team to just 3-6 in conference games.

But it all changed.

Nicholls ended the regular season winning eight of their final nine regular season games.

They carried that momentum to Katy and beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar, then Stephen F. Austin to secure the title.

All three of those teams beat the Colonels during the regular season.

Nicholls trailed in the second half of all three games before rallying to win.

“I couldn’t be happier and prouder of these kids,” Plaisance said. “Their fight, their toughness, their energy. They just wouldn’t be denied. They fought like champions and now, they can speak it proud. They are champions.”

KATY, TX MARCH 10: Southland Conference men’s Championship Basketball Men’s Game 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. Southern Louisiana University at Merrell Center in Katy on March 10, 2018 in Katy, Texas Photo: Rick Yeatts/Matt Pearce