LIVE STREAM | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | BRACKET | TOURNAMENT PAGE KATY, Texas – The No. 6 seed Nicholls State University women's basketball team will begin its quest for the program's first Southland Conference Tournament title as the Colonels take on No. 7 seed Sam Houston State at the Leonard E. Merrell Center at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10.
The first round game between Nicholls (10-18, 8-10 SLC) and Sam Houston (11-17, 7-11 SLC) will be streamed live on ESPN3. A live radio broadcast will also be available on geauxcolonels.com and can be listened to locally on KLEB 1600 AM.
The Colonels are making their eighth appearance overall in the postseason and fifth straight under head coach
DoBee Plaisance. During the recent streak, the Colonels have lost their first game when earning a bye, including a loss as a 3-seed last season, but are 2-0 in the first round. Nicholls' wins came in 2012 against Central Arkansas and in 2014 versus Oral Roberts. In the win over top-seed over UCA,
LiAnn McCarthy tied the tournament single-game record with seven made 3-pointers en route to a career-high 32 points.
Earlier on Tuesday, McCarthy was named Third Team All-Southland after leading the Colonels in scoring at 12.8 points per game. In 18 conference games, she upped her average to 15.1 points, which ranked 11th in the Southland.
As a team, Nicholls is averaging 63.8 points, which is slightly higher than last season's 17-win team. They are connecting on 38.5 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from 3-point range. Junior guard
Taylor Morrison finished the regular season as the Southland's leader in 3-point percentage as she made 42.9 percent overall and 43.6 percent in conference games.
Including McCarthy, the Colonels had three players score in double figures in the regular season. Freshman
Cassidy Barrios was second on the team at 10.6 points per game. Barrios has proved to be one of the most versatile players in the league as she averaged 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals. She also ranks sixth in the SLC in free throw percentage (.833), sixth in 3-pt percentage (.376), 12th in steals and 15th in assists and 3-pt made (1.5). Ranking third on the team in scoring is sophomore
Tia Charles (10.4 ppg), helped by her game-high 14 points in the Colonels' postseason-clinching win over Southeastern Louisiana on Senior Day.
On defense, the Colonels have been one of the nation's best when it comes to steals as Nicholls ranks 16th in the NCAA with 10.6 per game. Leading the way for the Colonels is junior guard Hope Pawlowksi, who is 18th in the country with 2.82 swipes per game. Last year, Nicholls averaged 11.4 per contest, which ranked ninth in the NCAA.
Sam Houston is coming off a 65-59 loss to Stephen F. Austin after winning its prior two contests. The Bearkats are led by All-Southland duo Shernise Robertson and Angela Beadle. Robertson landed on first time after averaging 18.1 points per game, while Beadle was a second-team selection with 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. The duo combined for 34 points in Sam Houston's meeting against the Colonels this season.
The Bearkats are scoring 63.1 points per contest and shooting just under 40 percent from the field. Sam Houston has been one of the best in the league in sharing the ball as they rank third with 14.2 assists per game. On defense, SHSU is allowing 68.7 points and is fifth in field goal percentage defense at .405. The Bearkats are also third in the league in blocks, swatting away 3.3 per game.
Sam Houston leads the all-time series, 32-20, but the Colonels have won the last two. Before Nicholls claimed victories over the past two seasons, the Bearkats had won six consecutive in the series. Thursday's matchup is the first ever between the programs in the postseason.
The winner of Thursday's game will advance to the second round to take on No. 3 Stephen F. Austin. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 1:30 p.m.
Tickets are available for purchase at the Merrell Center for both women's and men's games. The Nicholls Athletics Ticket booth will be on site starting Wednesday at 4 p.m.
