From Brooklyn to Thibodaux

For Katherine Plummer, being over 1,300 miles away from her hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., can be hard sometimes.

“My care package,” says Plummer of things her mother sends to Thibodaux from Brooklyn. “If I’m feeling down, and I want something sent to me … my mom sends it down. She’s amazing. She sends me anything I ask for,” she said with a laugh.

Plummer, a Nicholls State University junior point guard, added that because of that, her teammates poke fun at her sometimes. “They call me spoiled,” she said, smiling. “Sometimes I’m spoiled, like if don’t get what I want I get upset.”

And when suiting up for Nicholls, Plummer wants one thing—wins. For her part, she is doing what she can to help the Lady Colonels get what they want.

Since missing the first seven games of the season for academic reasons, Plummer ranks first in assists (59), second in steals (31) and third in scoring (11.3) for the Lady Colonels.

During the seven-game stretch without Plummer, the Lady Colonels were 1-6. Since her return, they have gone 4-9. Not where they want to be, but an improvement.

Head coach Mark Cook said Plummer’s experience—she has started since her freshman season—has been her biggest asset to the team since her return. “She brings that experience back,” he said. “You need an experienced person out there running, because of the way I run the team offensively and defensively.”

Throughout the opening stretch, Plummer could not wait to put that experience on display.

“It was very frustrating, to see my team out there struggling,” she said of the first seven games. “I just felt like I could help them. But you have to go through trials and tribulations.”

Which was exactly what she went through in her first game as freshman.

“We played Tulane,” she recalled. “I think I had like nine turnovers. Coach looked at me and he said, ‘Welcome to Division I.’ I kind of laughed, like this is a really competitive environment. I kind of learned from that bad night … and now I just know I have to take care of the ball and run the team. Be calm, collective and cool, and I’ll be alright.”

After her seven-game hiatus, Plummer made her return against St. Johns, in Queens, N.Y., a game her family attended. “That game was a great experience for me, just to see my family,” she said. “Just to be there, and us leading at halftime, it was shocking to now that we could be in this game with them.”

And while the Lady Colonels lost that game 63-50, they won the next one, against Tennessee State, in a game that Plummer scored 10 points.

“The first couple of games, I was a little tired, because the team had already played seven games,” she explained. “So I kind of felt like I was behind. As the season went on, I just wanted to get back up there and be productive, contribute to the team and be effective.”

Cook says Plummer has done just that. “She’s a good floor leader,” he said. She’s grown as a floor leader since she’s been here, because she’s started since she was a freshman. Last game I think she learned that she has to take over because she was having the better game out of everybody.”

In that game, Plummer had a team-high 19 points in leading Nicholls to a 56-54 Southland Conference win over McNeese State. That win was the Lady Colonels second-consecutive win in conference play, a trend they hope to continue for the rest of the season.

“We have seven games left,” the point guard said. “The object is to win at least five out of seven. It’d be great to win all of them. If we lose, we just have to bounce back. But at the minimum, we want to win five out of seven.”

If the Lady Colonels continue to get the type of production Plummer has been giving them, those wins might be a possibility.

And Plummer may get exactly what she’s wanted since stepping foot on Nicholls’ campus—a trip to the Southland Conference Tournament.

Photo by DOUG KEESE/NSU * Junior guard Katherine Plummer has played a key role for the Lady Colonels this season. After the missing the first seven games of the season, Plummer has provided a bright spot, averaging 12.3 points per game.

University Photojournalist