LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Nicholls State University women's basketball team (8-18, 3-10 Southland Conference) will look to improve their postseason chances on Saturday when the Colonels head to first-place McNeese State (20-6, 12-1 Southland Conference) as part of a men's and women's basketball double header at Burton Coliseum.

The Colonels head into the weekend 1.0 game out of a three-way tie for the eighth and final spot in the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament field with just three games left in the regular season.  A win over the first-place Cowgirls would help Nicholls strengthen its chances for its first Southland Conference Tournament trip since 2005.

Nicholls will look to complete an upset of first place McNeese after putting a scare into the Cowgirls in the first matchup between the two in-state rivals back on Jan. 26.  The Colonels battled McNeese down to the wire before the Cowgirls pulled away for the 72-71 victory.

The Colonels are led by a trio of double-digit scorers including Ricshanda Bickham, who owns a team-best 14.0 point/game average and is just nine points away from taking over sole possession of 17th place on the school's all-time scoring list.

Bickham is joined by freshman guard KK Babin (13.3 points/game) and sophomore forward Alisha Allen (11.1 points/game) to give the Colonels a trio of double-digit scorers.

However, the Cowgirls also own a potent offense, led by Ahslyn Baggett, whose 16.7 point/game average ranks second in the Southland Conference.

Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Burton Coliseum as the first matchup of a women's and men's basketball double header.  Following the contest, the Colonels will head to Northwestern State for a March 2 matchup with the Demons before returning to Stopher Gym in Thibodaux on March 5 for the regular season finale against Southeastern Louisiana.