SAN MARCOS, Texas – Northwestern State will be looking to open the Southland Conference women's basketball season with a win for the fourth straight season when it takes on Texas State here at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The game will be broadcast live on the Demon Sports Network while live free audio streaming and live stats will be available on www.nsudemons.com.
 
The Lady Demons (4-9) defeated Texas State (8-5) 81-66 in Natchitoches last season to open league play last year in Natchitoches, and before that, beat Nicholls State the previous two seasons.
 
NSU will enter the game as the only team in the conference with all five starters ranking in the top 25 in scoring in the Southland rankings.
 
Jordi James tops the squad and is ranked 13^th in the league at 13.4 points per game.  Following her is Trudy Armstead (11.8, 15^th), Jasmine Upchurch (10.8, 17^th), Ronikka Drake (9.5, 21^st), and Meredith Graf (9.0, 24^th).
 
Upchurch has been the player to look out for lately and has stepped her game up tremendously in the Lady Demons' time of need as NSU will dress just seven players due to injuries.
 
Upchurch, a junior center, has recorded three double-doubles in her last four games and is coming off a career-high scoring game of 22 points in the Lady Demons' last outing – a 63-40 win over LSU-Shreveport.  In her last four games, she's averaging 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds and is sinking 54 percent of her shots from the floor.
 
Another player that has stepped it up has been junior guard Graf.
 
Graf leads the team and is ranked fourth in the league and 24^th in the nation with a 41.5 three-point shooting percentage.  She tied a career-high with five treys made (six attempts) two games ago against Jackson State, and connected on 3 of 8 against LSUS.  In her last six games, she has made 16 of 39 (41%) from long range and is 10 of her last 19 (53%) in the last three games.
 
Saturday's game will be the 50^th meeting between the two schools with NSU holding a 29-20 lead in the all-time series.  The two teams have split the last four games but Texas State rolled off five straight victories before that.
 
NSU hasn't won in San Marcos since a 64-59 win back in the 2002-03 season and has a streak of four straight losses in Strahan Coliseum.