THIBODAUX -  The Nicholls State University women's basketball team (5-8) will try to return to the form that saw the Colonels win three straight games for the first time in nine years when Nicholls heads to Texas-Arlington (3-9) to open the 2011 Southland Conference schedule with a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday in Arlington.

The Colonels will be coming off a nine-day layoff and will be playing their first game of the 2011 calendar year.  Nicholls willl be riding a two-game losing streak into Saturday's matchup after going 0-2 against Tulane and UNC-Charlotte at the Tulane Doubltree Classic Dec. 29-30.

Nicholls will be looking to return to the form they showed prior to the Tulane-hosted tournament when the Colonels rattled off three consecutive wins from Dec. 15-21 against Bethune-Cookman, Georgia State and Southern.

The Colonels will take one of the most aggressive defenses in the nation into their matchup with the Mavericks.  Nicholls heads into Saturday's game boasting a steal/game mark of 12.2 and a turnover margin of +5.23, totals that rank 24th in the nation.

The Mavericks enter Saturday's conference opener with a 3-9 mark against one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation.  UTA has lost seven of its last nine entering Saturday, but that includes hard fought losses to national powers such as California, Arkansas, Pittsburgh and Kansas.  The Mavericks are led by Tamara Simmons' 16.8 point/game average.

Nicholls responds with a quartet of double digit scorers on offense.  Senior guard Ricshanda Bickham leads the team with a 14.8 point/game mark.  Freshman KK Babin boasts a 14.0 point/game average and enters Saturday ranked 21st in the nation by averaging 2.1 three pointers/game.  Sophomore forward Alisha Allen (12.2 ppg) and junior guard/forward Sumar Leslie (11.3 ppg) round out the Colonels' double-digit scorers.

Tipoff between the Colonels and Mavericks is set for 2 p.m .at Texas Hall in Arlington.  Links to live stats will be made available on the schedule portion of the women's basketball page at www.geauxcolonels.com on the day of the game.

Following their matchup with the Mavericks, Nicholls will return home to face Northwestern State (Jan. 12) and Sam Houston State (Jan. 15).