NATCHITOCHES – After nearly pulling off one of the most memorable comebacks in recent memory behind a depleted roster, Northwestern State is hungry for more and will look to ease those hunger pangs on Wednesday when it hosts Nicholls State at 7 in Southland Conference women's basketball action.
 
Trailing 55-43 with 11:39 to play at Texas State last Saturday, NSU, playing with just seven players, had three players in foul trouble with four apiece, and another temporarily out of action due to a sprained ankle suffered minutes before, faced the adversity head on and eventually grabbed a 68-67 lead with 1:09 to play.
 
But a put back bank shot with 10.3 seconds left sent the Lady Demons (4-10, 0-1) to the two-point loss.
 
“I can't tell you how proud I was of that effort,” said head coach Jennifer Graf.  “After a game like that, we were eager to get back into the gym and get better and also get ready for a very talented Nicholls team.”
 
NSU lost starter Jasmine Bradley and reserve Ebony Ford for the season several weeks ago to knee injuries, and a third player, Tashana Triplett, has missed the last three games with a strained Achilles tendon.  And on top of that, Meredith Graf is the player who suffered the ankle injury at Texas State, but returned later in that game to help fuel the Lady Demon rally.
 
“Meredith has a heart of a lion,” said Graf.  “She went down hard and when I went to go check on her, I could tell her ankle was in bad shape.  But she looked up at me and said 'coach, give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go.'
 
That's the type of leadership and competitiveness the girls are migrating to and it showed against Texas State.”
 
The Lady Demons will be challenged once again with a much improved Nicholls squad.
 
The Lady Colonels (8-6, 1-0) will enter Wednesday's game coming off an impressive 78-59 win over Texas-Arlington to open league play.  Nicholls has also won six of its last seven games after starting the season 2-5.
 
“They're a very talented and well-coached team,” said Graf.  “They have some great scorers in (Sumar) Leslie, (Alisha) Allen, and (KK) Babin.”
 
For the second straight game, NSU will face one of the league's top scorers as Sumar is ranked second in the league with a 15.9 points per game average.  Texas State's Diamond Ford tops the squad at 18.6 per game and scored 27 points against the Lady Demons on Saturday.
 
Joining Leslie in the scoring attack is Allen, ranked seventh in the league at 14.6 per game, and Babin, who is eighth with a 14.5 mark.  Nicholls is the only team in the league to have three players rank in the top 10 in scoring.
 
The Lady Demons are led by Jordi James' 13.9 average.  She improved on that mark after she scored 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds at Texas State.
 
Following James is Trudy Armstead at 12.1 ppg and a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game, and Jasmine Upchurch at 11.4 ppg.  Upchurch as scored in double-figures in five straight games and is averaging 18.4 points and 11.8 rebounds during that span.
 
Wednesday's game will be the 65^th meeting between the two teams with Northwestern dominating the series by a 59-5 margin.  The Lady Demons have won the last seven matchups, including wins of 70-67 at Nicholls and 74-57 at home last season.
 
Following the game, the Lady Demons will hit the road for the second Saturday of five straight when they visit Central Arkansas.
 
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network while free live audio and live stats, along with live video for a minimal fee, will be available on www.nsudemons.com.  Fans can also follow the action on Twitter by following @NSUDemons and @NSUDemonsWBB.