Sept. 12, 2007

THIBODAUX, La. - Wichita, Kansas, Albuquerque, New Mexico and New Orleans are some of the destinations the Nicholls State women's basketball team will travel to this year as head coach Mark Cook released the 2007-08 women's basketball schedule today.

The Colonels will play more than ten non-conference opponents before beginning Southland Conference play in mid-January. "I believe the schedule we have this year will showcase our veteran squad, and give us an opportunity to start conference on the right foot," Cook said.

Nicholls will begin their season at home against Dillard Nov. 13, before embarking on a three-week road trip, as the Colonels will face Tennessee State, participate in the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament, UNO and Cook's alma mater of Wichita State closing out the month of November.

December will start out with a home game against Prairie View A&M, then traveling to Alcorn State and Sun Belt runner-up from a year ago Louisiana-Lafayette, before returning home to face Centenary five days before Christmas.

The last non-conference game for the Colonels will be against Conference USA regular season champ Tulane Jan. 2 before traveling to Nacogdoches, TX for their first conference game against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.

Two days later, Nicholls will have a season-long five game conference home stand against Sam Houston State, Texas-Arlington, Texas State, Southeastern and Northwestern State.

After that stretch of home games, the Colonels will only have three more contests in Stopher Gym in February and March against McNeese, Central Arkansas and Lamar, with seven of those games being road contests before closing out the season Feb. 10 against the Cowgirls.

With five non-conference games against Louisiana schools, Cook believes this will go a long way in adding a new level of competition among state schools and brining those teams to Thibodaux every few years. "Since I've gotten here, I've been wanting to make a schedule like this that will not only showcase us, but bring that talent back to Nicholls," he said. "When you look at programs like ULL and Tulane, and how well they're doing, you cant help but want to play them and have them play at your place, and I think that trend will continue in years to come."

This year, Nicholls returns all-conference guard Katherine Plummer for her senior season, along with eight sophomores and juniors who all saw playing time last year. Cook and his team have lofty expectations for the new season, which are nothing short of making it to the conference tournament for the first time in two years.

"The team goals are the same as they have been for the past two years, getting to the conference tournament and possibly the NCAA Tournament," Cook said. "With the amount of talent we have this year, I expect us to not only accomplish those goals, but also compete for the division crown as well."

2007-08 Women's Basketball Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time

Nov. 13 Dillard University # Thibodaux, LA 6:30p

Nov. 17 Tennessee State University Nashville, TN 3:00p

Nov. 23-24 Univ. of New Mexico Tournament Albuquerque, NM 9:00p/TBA

Nov. 27 Univ. of New Orleans New Orleans, LA 7:00p

Nov. 29 Wichita State University Wichita, KS 7:00p

Dec. 8 Prairie View A&M University Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Dec. 11 Alcorn State University Alcorn State, MS 7:00p

Dec. 18 Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayette Lafayette, LA 7:00p

Dec. 20 Centenary College Thibodaux, LA 6:30p

Jan. 2 Tulane University # New Orleans, LA 4:30p

Jan. 10 *Stephen F. Austin St. University Nacogdoches, TX 7:00p

Jan. 12 *Sam Houston State University Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Jan. 17 *Univ. of Texas-Arlington Thibodaux, LA 6:30p

Jan. 19 *Texas State University Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Jan. 26 *Southeastern Louisiana Univ. # Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Jan. 31 *Northwestern State University Thibodaux, LA 6:30p

Feb. 2 *Univ. of Central Arkansas Conway, AR 4:00p

Feb. 7 *Lamar University Beaumont, TX 7:00p

Feb. 9 *McNeese State University Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Feb. 14 *Univ. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX 7:00p

Feb. 16 *Univ. of Texas-San Antonio San Antonio, TX 2:00p

Feb. 23 *Southeastern Louisiana Univ. # Hammond, LA 3:00p

Feb. 28 *Northwestern State University Natchitoches, LA 6:30p

Mar. 1 *Univ. of Central Arkansas Thibodaux, LA 2:00p

Mar. 6 *Lamar University Thibodaux, LA 6:30p

Mar. 8 *McNeese State University Lake Charles, LA 4:00p

* Denotes Southland Conference games # Denotes Doubleheader games