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March 11, 2014Saints part ways with popular veteran playmakers
March 11, 2014
Both the Nicholls State men’s and women’s basketball teams are heading into the Southland Conference Tournament with high hopes this week despite facing some long odds.
NICHOLLS MEN HOPE TO CUT DOWN THE NETS
By now, getting to Katy, Texas, and the Merrell Center – the annual home of the tournament – has become almost routine for the Colonels. That wasn’t always the case, but to seniors like Dantrell Thomas and Jeremy Smith, it’s all they’ve known.
Nicholls (13-14 overall, 10-8 conference) will be making its sixth consecutive Southland Conference Tournament appearance under head coach J.P. Piper.
Now it’s time to start winning some games there. That hasn’t happened a lot, as Nicholls has managed just one win at the tournament in its six straight trips there and none since 2009.
Piper said it’s time for the program to take the next step.
“We’ve clearly established ourselves as a team that expects to be there every year,” he said. “Now we’ve got to be a team that goes over there to win games and contend for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. That’s really been the challenge for this group of seniors. We expected from day one to be there. Now let’s expect to go win a game or two and see if we can really string something together.
“If we don’t do that, it’s going to be a disappointment. There should be that expectation. I know that puts a little pressure on the head coach, but I think that’s fair.”
The quest will start Thursday when the Colonels, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, face in-state rival and No. 8 seed Southeastern. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. Nicholls split the regular season series with the Lions, winning 64-61 back on January 4 at Stopher Gym and falling 71-66 on February 15 in Hammond.
The loss to Southeastern was at the tail-end of a four-game losing streak that dropped the team from 7-2 in conference play to 7-6. Nicholls rebounded to win three of its next four games before being held to their lowest point total of the season in Saturday’s 58-44 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Despite Saturday’s setback, Piper said the team is playing better down the stretch.
“(During the losing streak) we lost our focus defensively a little bit,” he said. “We weren’t defending the way we were to get to that 7-1 mark before we went on the road. Stephen F. (Austin) really turned us upside down. We were not prepared to get handled that way and I think it shook us up in a way that we lost a little faith in the things we were doing all along to have success.”
The Colonels know that if they can string together some wins at the tournament, a rematch awaits with the high-flying Lumberjacks, who won the Southland Conference regular-season title with a perfect 18-0 record and are 29-2 overall entering post-season play.
It’s a challenge Piper says the Colonels would welcome.
“Clearly they’re a good team and they’ve beaten everyone they’ve played in the league,” Piper said. “I would love the opportunity to face those guys again. That would mean we’re advancing in the tournament, so it would be a really positive thing if we could get to that point.”
NICHOLLS WOMEN BELIEVE IN LEADERSHIP
The Nicholls women’s team is making its third consecutive trip to the Southland Conference Tournament.
Unlike the men’s team, which could have clinched no higher than the No. 5 seed regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the Lady Colonels missed an opportunity to improve their seeding over the weekend.
A win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday would have given the Lady Colonels (16-13 overall, 11-7 conference) at least one bye in the conference tournament and an outside shot at the No. 3 seed. But the team let a 19-point second-half lead slip away en route to a 59-55 loss and now enters the tournament as a No. 5 seed.
“We still have a shot of a conference championship,” said Nicholls coach Dobie Plaisance. “Our goal is just to get to that championship game. If we get to the championship game, I really feel like we can make it happen.”
Although the Lady Colonels didn’t close the regular season the way they’d have liked, they are still considered a team dangerous enough to get on a roll once the tournament begins.
Sophomore Emani White is the hottest shooter in the Southland Conference, finishing the regular season as the league’s leading scorer with an average of 19.4 points per game. She also set the Nicholls school record for most points in a single season (350).
Nicholls also has plenty of veteran leadership from experienced players like KK Babin, Jasmine Scott and Jenny Nash, which Plaisance says could be the biggest factor this time of year.
“Team leadership and team chemistry, those are the keys that stick together,” she said.
“Our leaders present a certain amount of comfort to (the rest of) our players. That’s one thing we have been very consistent with. Regardless of the hiccups along the way, they have always found a way to respond. Their attitudes have always been very optimistic.”
To go on the type of run that could propel the team into the conference championship game and a shot at the NCAA Tournament, Plaisance said more has to do with the mental state of the team this time of year than any physical state.
“You can’t take a possession off, and you can’t feel or look like you’re getting tired because everybody is fighting for something,” Plaisance said. “If you’re going to be in a championship game, no matter who it is you’re going up against, it’s going to be a matter of who can stay true within themselves as well as trying to negate some of the opponents’ strengths.”
The Lady Colonels will open the tournament Thursday against No. 8 seed Oral Roberts. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Merrell Center. Nicholls beat ORU, 71-60, back on January 30 in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.
