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Press Conference: NICH and NSU
KATY, Texas – Northwestern State's season came perilously close to slipping away, that is, before Kourtney Pennywell helped save it.
Pennywell's basket with 40 seconds left gave the Lady Demons the lead for good, while three late free throws helped secure fourth-seed Northwestern's 69-65 win over fifth-seed Nicholls in Friday's women's quarterfinal at Merrell Center.
“We had actually put that (play) in this week just to give us a different kind of option,” Northwestern coach Brooke Stoehr said of the go-ahead basket, which came off an inbounds play. “At this point, players have to make plays, but it's our job as coaches to put them in a position to be successful.”
Thanks to Stoehr's innovation and Trudy Armstead's pinpoint pass to Pennywell, the Demons (19-12) will advance to play top-seed Lamar Saturday at noon, CT, on
ESPN3.
Nicholls (17-14) trailed 63-53 with 5:42 remaining before mounting together a 12-0 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from first-team All-Southland guard Emani White that gave the Colonels a two-point lead with 1:49 left.
It was just the fourth trey of the afternoon for the Colonels, who struggled from beyond the arc (4 of 24) barely more than 24 hours after tying their own tournament record of 14 makes from 3-point range.
“We did get some early looks in the game,” Nicholls coach DoBee Plaisance said. “They just didn't fall.”
Nicholls had a chance to regain the lead, but White's 3-pointer fell short as the shot clock expired. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Colonels were called for an intentional foul, which allowed Armstead (19 points, 11 rebounds) to hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 68-65. Armstead then hit one more from the charity stripe to put the game out of reach.
While the Colonels' long-range game failed to get in sync, Nicholls hung tough by hitting the glass while also using its bench in an effort to keep its tournament hopes alive.
Plaisance reverted to using an inside game that helped throw off the Demons while also keeping the Colonels in the game. Reserves Shay Arnick and Marina Lilly, who combined for 15 of the 21 points Nicholls received from its bench, also helped on the glass, teaming up for 10 rebounds.
The duo helped take up the slack from third-team All-Southland guard K.K. Babin, Jenny Nash and White, who teamed up for a disappointing 6 of 24 from the field in the first half.
Northwestern jumped out to a 10-2 lead and led 16-8 at the 11:59 mark before its offense hit a cold spell that lasted 5:14 until Trudy Armstead's basket snapped the Demons out of its lethargic stretch. By then, the Colonels had used a 12-1 run that included their first 3-pointer of the afternoon, a long-range strike from Nash that gave Nicholls its first lead at 18-17.
Although the Colonels fell short, their effort was yet another sign of the job done by Plaisance in turning the program around. Nicholls has consecutive winning seasons after winning a combined 14 games in Plaisance's first three seasons as coach.
“It isn't about the destination. It's more about the journey, and I'll take a journey with these women any day,” Plaisance said.
Postgame Quotes…
Northwestern State coach Brooke Stoehr
“You have to tip your hat to Nicholls. That was a great game, back-and-forth. You have to give DoBee (
Nicholls coach) a lot of credit. I couldn’t be more proud of my kids. I thought we just fought. We were just tough. We have been through some tough experiences this year. Our kids executed down the stretch. I thought they were ready to play, we had great energy and played very well together.”
On containing Nicholls shooters:
“It was a huge part of our game plan. Emani White and KK Babin are very proficient from the three-point line. We felt like we had to do a really good job taking that away and limiting their open three’s. We really focused on personnel and taking away what’s best for them and that’s their three-point shooting. We just didn’t want to give open looks.”
Northwestern State forward Trudy Armstead
On keeping composure after trailing late in the game:
“If this was earlier in the year I would feel like we would have let that deflate us. But we have grown through the season and after she (Emani) hit that three we just continued to fight and didn’t let up.
”
Northwestern State guard Chelsea Rogers
On keeping composure after trailing late in the game:
“They put us in those positions every day at the end of practice. We work on if we get down; they give us a certain amount of time and we run plays like that thanks to coach.”
Northwestern State guard Keisha Lee
On keeping composure after trailing late in the game:
“We have grown a lot over the year. We practice that every day so we can know what’s coming.”
Nicholls coach DoBee Plaisance
“First of all I’d like to give a lot of credit to Northwestern. Great game again today. Also, very proud of our players. We have persevered a lot this year and we preserved today. The outcome wasn’t what we expected; however, it isn’t about the destination it’s more about the journey and I’d take a journey with these women any day. We didn’t give up; we battled and again, a couple plays short one way or another. I’m very proud I’ve been able to go on this journey with these women. It was a tough game and it just didn’t quite fall our way tonight.”
On the difficulty of getting open looks:
“Early on we were doing a great job of addressing the rim; it just didn’t fall. That wasn’t a matter of execution. The three point shot isn’t the highest percentage shot. We did have some early looks. Then, a little bit of a situation having to go inside with our bigs and that became effective. In terms of any disruptiveness, I don’t think it was anything blaring. I just feel like we had some clean shot opportunities that didn’t fall.”
On production off the bench:
“We knew we had to get more production from our fours and our fives. Their effort, not only scoring the basketball but going after those 50/50 balls and those rebounds. Again, I’m very proud of their efforts. In many ways, they did relieve a lot of pressure on our perimeter. I’m very proud of everybody.”
Nicholls guard KK Babin
On communication on the court:
“I just told the team we can get this. It didn’t really turn out that way but we tried to stay together as a unit and push and come out with a win.”
On four years with Nicholls:
“Just to start off where we were my freshman year and all the struggles we went through. We were pretty much nothing when we first got here. Coach kind of convinced me, ‘hey, we can do this. We can turn this around.’ I believed coach and I have all my trust in her and the coaching staff. A few others signed in and we became a core group. We just worked to keep pushing and that’s where we are today; a ton of work and a ton of effort. As you can see, we’re pretty competitive these days. I’m happy with where we are now.”
Nicholls guard Emani White
On communication on the court:
“We just tried to stay positive and never give up. We came back from a big deficit and we just couldn’t close it out.”