Nicholls State University

Since arriving, Plaisance has guided Nicholls to uncharted territory, highlighted by the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2018. In the following season in 2018-19, the team claimed its first 20-win campaign and a second consecutive postseason appearance, playing in the WBI.

In 2018's Southland Conference Tournament, the No. 4 seed Nicholls squad made an impressive run through the postseason with wins over the No. 5-, 1-, and 2-seeds en route to its first SLC Tournament Title.

Cassidy Barrios, who played her high school ball at nearby Vandebilt Catholic, led the way for the championship Colonels by sweeping all four top honors that season. She was named Southland Conference Player of the Year, Southland Tournament MVP, Southland Student-Athlete of the Year, and was also tabbed as the state’s top player as she earned Louisiana Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. Coach Plaisance joined Barrios in the all-state honors as she earned her second Louisiana Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year award.

In 2019, Barrios became the program's all-time leading scorer and repeated as the top player in Louisiana. She also earned All-Southland First Team for the second straight campaign, becoming the first Colonel to garner the award twice. 

For the 2019-20 season, Nicholls ended the year with a 7-game winning streak to claim a ninth consecutive trip to the Southland Conference Tournament. The winning streak matched the program's longest, last previously reached to close out the regular season of 2018-19. Nicholls set program records that year with 20 overall wins and 14 Southland victories. 

In 15 seasons, Plaisance accumulated 174 wins, which ranks first on the program’s all-time victories list. After winning two games in her first campaign, Plaisance doubled her wins in the next two seasons. In 2011-12, she nearly completed the feat for a third time as Nicholls won 15 games. That year was the first of four consecutive seasons with at least 15 wins as she followed up with a then program-record 19 wins in 2012-13. Before Plaisance arrived to Thibodaux, the Colonels had never won 15 games in a season, nor had they had three consecutive campaigns with double-digit victories. Plaisance’s 2017-18 squad won 19 games as well, matching the previous record set just five seasons prior.

In 2014-15, Nicholls finished with a 17-13 overall record and claimed a then program-best 13 wins in the Southland to claim a three-seed, which was the Colonels’ highest seeding ever. For her efforts, Plaisance was named Southland Conference Women’s Basketball co-Head Coach of the Year, becoming only the second coach in program history to earn the award, and went on the garner Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LWSA) Women’s Basketball Head Coach of the Year. With a repeat selection as Louisiana’s top coach in 2018, it marked the fourth season in her career as a collegiate head coach where she has been named coach of the year.

Plaisance has led her teams to nearly every single program record since she arrived in Thibodaux in 2008, and she has also achieved several personal marks. Plaisance became the program's all-time leader in victories in 2016 as she surpassed Hall of Fame coach Ben Abadie’s 89, and in the next season, she claimed her 100th win as head coach at Nicholls. In the 2019-20 season, Plaisance reached another milestone with her 300th career victory. 

Along with her own success, Plaisance has also guided her players to numerous individual accolades. Since the start of her tenure, Nicholls has had 13 All-Southland selections, which doubles the amount the program had in the previous 17 seasons. Barrios’ student-athlete of the year recognition was also the second for the program – both under Coach Plaisance.

In 2013-14, Plaisance coached the program's first-ever All-Southland First Team honoree, sophomore and New Orleans native Emani White. The Colonels also landed a player on second team, giving Plaisance two All-Southland honorees for the third straight year, another program record.

For the 2014-15 campaign, guard Jenny Nash made the All-Southland Second Team and went on to cap her remarkable academic career by being named Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year. Nash also received first-team academic honors for the third time in her career and was placed on the Capital One Academic All-District team for the second time.

At Loyola, after the arrival of scholarships in 2004, Plaisance posted an impressive 81-33 record that included back-to-back Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) Regular Season Championships in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Her 2006-07 squad finished 25-9, while her 2007-08 team notched a school best 28-7 mark, resulting in Plaisance winning consecutive GCAC Coach of the Year honors. In the 2007-08 season, she led the Wolfpack to the Elite Eight of the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship Tournament.

The appearance in the Elite 8 was the furthest that Loyola has ever advanced in the NAIA National Tournament in the program’s history. Loyola also eclipsed program records for wins and highest ranking as the Wolfpack won 28 games and were ranked 15th in the final NAIA poll. As the pioneer for the Wolfpack program, Plaisance was inducted into the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame in January of 2015. Two years later, her 2007-08 team was enshrined into the hall of fame as well.

Plaisance, a New Orleans native, was a four-year starter throughout her college career, playing two years at the University of New Orleans and two years at Southeastern Louisiana University.

She later graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and worked as a student assistant coach for the Lady Eagles.  Following her stint with Southern Miss, she joined the Tulane University staff as assistant coach where she spent three seasons.

Plaisance landed her first job as head coach at St. Martin Episcopal High School in Metairie, La. In seven of her eight years at St. Martin’s, Plaisance successfully guided her squad to the state playoffs before capturing back-to-back state championships in 1993 and 1994.  Her teams compiled a 70-4 record over that span that included a perfect 36-0 mark in 1993. In 2015, Plaisance was enshrined into St. Martin’s Hall of Fame for her outstanding coaching career. Along with her two Loyola hall of fame honors, Plaisance is a three-time first-ballot selection.

Mary ‘DoBee’ Ronquillo Plaisance is married to Scott Plaisance and the couple has two children - Theresa and Scott Jr. Both children followed in her footsteps on the basketball court. Her oldest, Theresa, was a standout player at Louisiana State where she garnered All-SEC honors as well as WBCA All-America Honorable Mention. Following her career at LSU, she was drafted 27th overall in the 2014 WNBA Draft by the Tulsa Shock and currently plays for the Las Vegas Aces.

The youngest, Scott Jr., played two years at the University of New Orleans from 2017-19. Before joining UNO, he spent two seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. In high school, he led Country Day to back-to-back 1A state championships. Along with being named First Team All-State in his last two seasons, he was named Louisiana Class 1A Player of the Year as a junior.