NATCHITOCHES – With less than a month away from opening Southland Conference action, the Northwestern State Lady Demon basketball team is still trying to put the pieces together on what is a talented but young squad.
 
The Lady Demons will play just their third home game of the season, and last one until Dec. 21, when they host NAIA member Wiley College at 2 on Saturday in Prather Coliseum.

NSU (2-5) is coming off a 67-41 loss at SMU in a game that saw the Lady Demons post their lowest scoring output (41 points) and field goal shooting (23 percent) since the 2006-07 season.
 
And to make matters worse, NSU was dealt a huge blow earlier in the week when it found out that sophomore sensation guard Jasmine Bradley will miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL she suffered at Prairie View last week.

“It's never easy for any athlete to face an injury, especially a season ending ACL tear,” said head coach Jennifer Graf about Bradley who led the Southland Conference in steals and ranked second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring before her injury.  “I'm positive JB will face this challenge full steam ahead because that's the type of person she is.  She's someone who goes full speed with a positive attitude and has a strong work ethic.” 
With Bradley out of the lineup, Graf will need to depend on certain players to step it up a notch, in particular junior forward Jasmine Upchurch and freshman forward Ebony Ford.
 
“Jasmine (Upchurch) has been a big presence for us inside the paint by being an offensive threat and stepping up her rebounding totals,” said Graf.  “And Ebony (Ford) has also shown her athletic ability at the forward position and will see additional minutes with JB's absense.”
 
At SMU, Upchurch tied a career-high with 11 rebounds to go along with seven points while Ford pulled down four boards with four points in a career-high 24 minutes played.
 
For the season, Trudy Armstead continues to lead the team in both scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg) while Jordi James follows with a 12.4 ppg average.
 
Wiley College (6-2) has two players averaging double-figures in scoring – Alieshia Carruthers at 14.0 ppg and Shantae Hewins at 10.1 ppg.
 
This will be the first meeting between the two schools and the second opponent of the season for NSU from the Red River Athletic Conference.  The Lady Demons dropped an 84-80 decision to Loyola-New Orleans in their last home game back on Nov. 25.
 
Saturday's game will be carried broadcast live on the Demon Sports Network that is flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL-FM in Natchitoches.  Live video streaming, audio and live stats will be available on www.nsudemons.com.