Nicholls State University’s women’s basketball team held a winning streak until they lost a game against Northwestern with a 76-60 loss.
“A game like Northwestern, you have to take it for what it is. It was a bad day. We had a bad day. What we told our players after the game was that events in life do not define you, it’s how you react to those events,” Dobbee Plaisance, head women’s basketball coach and senior women’s administrator, said.
The team is not taking this loss to heart and plans to recover during the games that follow. They see this loss as a chance to prove that they can recover and comeback stronger.
“We went on a winning streak. We beat a few really big teams that we needed to beat. We beat UCA, Oral and SFA in double overtime but that was our way up. We had a little stumble during our last game; we ended up losing at Northwestern. They are a good team, but we shouldn’t have lost that game. This week is looking to get back on track and start that winning streak again,” K.K. Babin, a senior accounting major from Gonzales, said.
Plaisance is determined to raise the bar for her players, saying, “Every day at practice we tryto get the kids to play at another level. We have challenged our players to find a way to play better each time. No matter how well you did the previous night, you have to find a way to play better the next day.”
She further elaborated, “Thursday night we went double overtime against the team that was picked to win the conference. That is a big night, but it can’t define us because we have half the season left to play. Saturday, we didn’t play our best game. You can’t let it define you and get down in the dumps because we have half the season left to play.”
Watching film has also allowed the team to take on a different perspective. “We always watch film to see what we did good in the game and what we need to improve on, even in the games that we have won. There is always something to improve. We are always trying to get better,” Babin said.
The team still has a lot of games to play that can only bring them closer to recognition. “I’m excited because we are at the top of the polls, and we are top three. It puts us in a really good place to end up being first and being able to get the ring. If we don’t get it in conference, then we will have a really good seat in the tournament.”
As the team works harder to sharpen their skills, Plaisance makes it clear that she does not want to change the players because “they are great kids with a high skill set.” She and her staff simply want to challenge them so that they can reach a higher level.
She also explains that she does not want the team to reach a peak because this means that after they reach the top they will have to go back down. Plaisance has challenged the women to reach a high level and learn how to either maintain or surpass it.
Plaisance remarked, “I’m not ready to come down, I’m ready to keep playing a whole lot more ball.”