THIBODAUX, La. – For the second straight year, the Nicholls State University women's basketball team will enter the Southland Conference Tournament as one of the league's hottest teams after reeling off seven consecutive wins to close out the regular season.
Nicholls (13-16, 10-10 SLC) claimed the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tournament after winning a tiebreaker against UIW (14-15, 10-10 SLC), which will serve as the Colonels' first-round opponent. The Cardinals earned the 7 seed in their first appearance in the SLC Tourney since joining the league in 2013-14. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12 in the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
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Nicholls is making its 12th all-time appearance and second as the No. 6 seed. The Colonels won the tournament in 2018 as a No. 4 seed, but were ousted in the quarterfinals last year as the No. 3 against runner-up Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Nicholls is 5-10 all-time in the conference tournament, with all five wins coming under head coach DoBee Plaisance. The Colonels have made the SLC Tournament in nine consecutive seasons, which is the second longest current streak in the Southland.
The tournament appearance once seemed like a long shot as Nicholls was 3-10 in conference after a close loss at home to Sam Houston State on Feb. 8. But a road win at Lamar sparked the seven-game winning streak as Nicholls climbed up to sixth in the standings. The streak matches the longest in program history which has been achieved three previous times - 2015, '18 and '19.
Nicholls is led on offense by its senior trio - Chrystal Ezechukwu (14.2 ppg), Airi Hamilton (11.9) and Tykeria Williams (10.0). As a team, the Colonels are averaging 64.8 points per game with a healthy amount of points coming from the charity stripe as Nicholls ranks eighth in the NCAA in made free throws. In the seven-game winning streak, the Colonels have nearly doubled their opposition in made free throws, 143-74.
UIW comes to Katy on a three-game skid, capped by a tough loss in overtime at home to No. 3-seed Abilene Christian. The Cardinals are averaging 59.3 points per game, led by All-Southland First Team selection Imani Robinson. As a senior, Robinson averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals.
The all-time series between Nicholls and UIW is tied at 5-5 following the Cardinals' 53-51 win on Jan. 2 in San Antonio. The Colonels had the lead for all but 23 seconds in the loss, with Robinson making the final bucket with 1.9 seconds remaining.
FOLLOW ALONG
The first three rounds will stream on ESPN+s. The women's championship on Sunday will air on CBS Sports Network.
For the most up-to-date information, follow the Colonel basketball team on Twitter @Nicholls_WBB.
