Tonight’s women’s basketball game between LSU and Nicholls State has special meaning for LSU freshman forward Theresa Plaisance.
 
Plaisance’s mother, DoBee, is the women’s basketball coach at Nicholls (2-3), and Theresa said she cannot wait for tipoff at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux tonight at 6:30 p.m.
 
It will be the first trip to Thibodaux for LSU (4-4) since 1981, and Theresa said there will be many familiar faces in the audience from her alma mater of Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma.
 
“I’m super excited to be playing at Nicholls,” Theresa said. “My whole school is supposed to be there and obviously my mom. It’s kind of overwhelming. I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m hoping to make the most of it.”
 
Theresa said her mother has been the biggest influence in her basketball development, and though they speak daily, the upcoming faceoff has not been a topic of conversation.
 
Plaisance has played in seven of LSU’s eight games this season, but she has no starts and is just 3-of-11 shooting with eight total points. She said her mother has assured her that freshman year can be a tough year for adjustment.
 
“She’s just been telling me not to get discouraged because I’m not playing as much as I would like right now,” Theresa said. “Basically keep your head up and keep working hard, and eventually you’ll be where you want to be. That’s the best advice she’s given me, and she’s there for me all the time.”
 
Nicholls is on a three-game losing streak, starting the year off with wins at home against Southern-New Orleans and Louisiana-Monroe before dropping road games to Ole Miss, Stony Brook and St. John’s.
 
But LSU junior forward LaSondra Barrett said the Lady Tigers can’t slack off in preparation for Nicholls, especially remembering what happened when they played their first in-state school this season – a 54-52 home loss to Tulane on Nov. 23.
 
“They haven’t backed down in their games,” Barrett said. “The games they lost were really close games. We’re not going in thinking we’re better than them just because we’re LSU. They put their pants on just like we do.”
 
Nicholls lost to Ole Miss and Stony Brook by four points each, and its most recent defeat by St. John’s was by 25 points, 79-54. Freshman guard KK Babin has played all 40 minutes in all five games this season, leading the team with 16.4 points per and 14 steals. But she also has the most turnovers with 22.
 
LSU is coming off its fourth loss of the season Sunday to No. 1 Connecticut, 81-51.
 
Barrett said the loss came as a result of physical and mental mistakes.
 
“[Connecticut] knows how to win in spite of adversity,” Barrett said. “That’s one thing they had over us. The physical part was they outrebounded us [LSU gave up 19 offensive rebounds], and we weren’t mentally focused so we didn’t take care of the ball.”
 
Plaisance said fatigue shouldn’t be a factor tonight, even though LSU plays its fourth game away from home in five days.
 
“We really frustrated [Connecticut] at one point in the first half, but they just had a really good start to the second half and we kind of lost it from there,” she said. “My mom has high hopes for this team. She was upset about us losing to Tulane. She thought we should have won.”
 
 
 
 
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]