Robert David "Speck" Gros
January 13, 2009Downtown Art Gallery (Houma)
January 15, 2009
If there ever was a squad looking for a fresh start, it’s the Nicholls State Lady Colonels basketball team.
Not unexpectedly, first-year head coach DoBee Plaisance and her team, which includes seven true freshmen, experienced severe growing pains on their way to an 0-11 finish in non-conference play. Inexperience and youthfulness are but two of the obstacles the team has faced all season.
Despite the dismal start, Plaisance is hoping her players can salvage the year in conference play. After all, she continuously reminds her team, everyone begins conference play 0-0.
Round two of the season started Saturday against the Northwestern State Lady Demons in Natchitoches. Even though the Lady Colonels fell 73-58, Plaisance is keeping her faith, because it is only one game. Tonight, the Lady Colonels are at the University of Texas at San Antonio to face the Roadrunners.
Plaisance said for the Lady Colonels to turn things around, it’s important to have a strong showing on the road.
“There is a lot of parity, and that’s what makes (the conference) so competitive,” she said. “You give yourself an opportunity to win every night if you come in ready and prepared to work hard. It’s a new season. Now is the time for us to pick things up.”
The Lady Colonels’ home conference slate begins Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. The team next heads to Conway, Ark., to face Central Arkansas Jan. 21.
They wrap up January with three straight home games: a rematch against Northwestern State on Jan. 24, McNeese State (Jan. 28) and Southeastern (Jan. 31).
Plaisance said her team has learned a good deal about themselves from this season’s hardships, information players hope to use to their advantage.
“I’m so glad to be done with Conference USA, Sun Belt and SEC schools,” she said. “It was time to get into conference play against equal opponents.”
“I’ve always told my team that I divide the basketball season into three parts: pre-conference, conference and postseason,” Plaisance added.
“Every time we start a new season within the season, it brings new opportunities,” she explained. “Quite frankly, whether we were 0-11 or 11-0 in non-conference play, it doesn’t matter.”
Ball control – or a lack of it – plagued the Lady Colonels during the start of the season. In non-conference play, the team committed over 100 more turnovers than their opponents.
It’s not the debut season Plaisance hoped for.
“I’m not one to duck from the truth at all. We’re not in the kind of shape we need to be in. In part, that is our fault,” she admitted. “(The girls) did work hard, but I don’t think they really understood how important this would have been. They didn’t condition that much and that’s where the turnovers, missed shots and fatigue come in.”
The Lady Colonels are also struggling with their shooting percentage, sinking only 30 percent of their baskets on the season.
“I explained to them, if we’re getting the shots, it’s their role to make them,” Plaisance explained. “It’s unrealistic to think a team will shoot 100 percent, but we have missed way too many open shots. We could control that. The other Achilles heel is the turnovers. We’re not going to win if we give our opponent 30 extra tries to score.”
One of the bright spots for the Lady Colonels this season has been the play of senior forward Christie Bryant.
Bryant’s team-leading 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game have lifted the Lady Colonels’ court presence.
Along with fellow senior forward Dominique Washington, the two have emerged as role models for the team’s younger players.
Freshman guard Danielle Douglas’ play has not escaped notice either, Plaisance said. Douglas has earned the starting guard spot in four of the Lady Colonels’ 11 non-conference games, averaging 3.6 points per game.
“If you ask her to do something, she is going to go out there and do it and not make an excuse,” the coach said. “That’s a very big part of why she has been one of our major contributors.”
Because the Southland Conference is so competitive, Plaisance said her team will have to dig deep to improve their game.
“As a whole, the conference is getting better,” she said. “The coaching is great, and I look forward to working with the people in the Southland Conference. If you’re competitive in this conference, then you have a shot at making it to the next level.”
The Nicholls State Lady Colonels began Southland Conference play Saturday against the Northwestern State Lady Demons in Natchitoches after going 0-11 in non-conference. Coach DoBee Plaisance said the start of the second round of the season gives her team the chance for a fresh start. * Photo courtesy of NSU
