After dropping four consecutive games against Southland Conference opponents, the Lady Colonels basketball team is ready to jump back on track against McNeese State tonight in Stopher Gym at 5:45 p.m.
The Lady Colonels (5-10, 2-6 SLC) are ready to move past the frustration they received after losing to Stephen F. Austin, Texas-Arlington, Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern.
“No doubt, the team is extremely disappointed about the last four games. I think they’re feeling a little left out right now, but our job as coaches is to not let them get to that point,” Louise “Do” Bonin, head womens basketball coach, said.
“The last four games were disappointments, but I still think our best games are still ahead of us.”
Bonin thinks patience and consistency is the Lady Colonels best friend right now.
“We haven’t had a game yet where we got consistency from all of our key players at the same time. Our team is still developing and trying to find itself right now,” Bonin said.
“And halfway through conference is about time to make that mark.”
After playing host to McNeese (3-11, 2-6 SLC), the Lady Colonels will host six of their next seven games at home.
“To put that to perspective, we are at 2-6 right now. We could potentially reach eight games, with six of them being at home,” Bonin said.
As of today, the Lady Colonels are in seventh position in the Southland Conference. If the season ended today, the Lady Colonels would be on the outside looking into the conference tournament.
“We have our backs against the wall because we need to beat the teams who are in the same place with us in the standings,” Bonin said.
Despite losing to Stephen F. Austin 56-53 earlier in the year, some Lady Colonels feel their season turned around at that point.
“It shocked us how good we played that game. It made us realize that there is a lot of teams in this conference that has to look out for Nicholls State,” senior guard Deandra Walter, said.
One of the key positives the Lady Colonels have this season is the beneficial play they are receiving from their reserves.
“I think one of the biggest positives is our numbers. Coming off the bench, we have a lot more substitutions. It can help us as a team,” Walter said.
“We start to get tired as the season goes, but we have four or five upperclassmen who are able to come in a contribute.”
Bonin said she is most impressed with the production of sophomore guards Lisa Lawrence, Jessica Gipson and forward Fatimat Bello.
“Lisa has been steady. She had a bad game against Louisiana-Monroe, but she has been dependable, reliable and committed to what we want her to do.”
With a .282 three point percentage, Bonin said she is happy with the shooting of Gipson.
“Jessica is probably one of the best shooters in the league, and she is really starting to come into her own right now,” Bonin said.
Bonin said that Bello provides a great insurance relief off the bench for the Lady Colonels.
“Fatimat is giving us some really good quality minutes. She has respected her role as playing in relief of Mandy (Broussard) and Jen (Posey), and she is in the best shape she has ever been in.”
The Lady Colonels will have to stop McNeese’s Kellie Burbridge and Clarissa Clark. Burbridge leads McNeese with 17.3 points per game, and Clark is second with 10.1.
But the Lady Colonels think that if they rally together, they could be a very tough team to beat.
“We need to be able to play together on offense and defense. If we are able to put those two together, I don’t think anybody could stop us.”