THIBODAUX, La.  – The Nicholls State University women's basketball team will play in its second non-conference tournament of the season as the Colonels head to DeLand, Fla. to play in the Hatters Classic, hosted by Stetson University.

Nicholls opens up tournament play on Friday, Dec. 20 against Bethune-Cookman (3-7) a 2 p.m. before taking on Stetson (6-4) on Saturday at noon. Both games can be listened to live on KNSU 91.5 FM, with pregame coverage scheduled to begin 15 minutes prior to tipoff.

Nicholls (4-4) will look to rebound from a rough outing at nationally-ranked Texas A&M earlier this week which saw the Colonels score a season-low 39 points. Nicholls made only 13 field goals in the loss to the Aggies, shooting just 23 percent from the field. 

Guards Emani White and KK Babin head the Colonel offense, with White leading the conference in scoring at 21.5 points per game. Babin is averaging 10.6 points and a team-best 3.8 assists, while freshman Marina Lilly is scoring 9.9 points per game and leads the team with 6.5 rebounds.

Both of the Colonels' opponents head into the weekend coming off wins. Bethune-Cookman picked up a 57-49 win over Jacksonville in its last outing and Stetson knocked off Charlotte, 83-81.

Although Bethune is averaging only 54.5 points per game, Chastity Ren Taylor has posed as a lethal scoring threat, netting 16.1 points on the year. In the win over Jacksonville, Taylor scored nearly half of the Lady Wildcats' points, finishing with 23. Shakeyia Colyer, who is averaging 8.3 points, also had a solid game in the win, scoring 16 points. Colyer leads the team with 25 assists this season.

Stetson features a more balanced attack on offense with all five starters averaging double figures in scoring. Sasha Sims paces the Hatters with 18.5 points per game, with Brianti Saunders next at 15.5. Jama Sharp, who is averaging 10.9 points, is ranked in the top 20 of the NCAA in assists with 63.

On defense, Stetson is holding teams to a 38.1 percent clip in field goal percentage. A big reason for the stellar defense is 6'3 freshman Amber Porter who already has 35 blocks in just 10 games.

Following the Hatters Classic, Nicholls will have a week off for the holiday break before wrapping up 2013, as well as its non-conference schedule, on Dec. 29 at Southern Miss.