Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State followed freshman Janelle Perez's lead to overcome an eight-point deficit with just over seven minutes to play to beat Alcorn State 55-50 Monday at Prather Coliseum.
 
Perez scored 21 points to clinch NSU's (2-0) first two-game win streak to open a season since 2007. Her three-pointer at 7:19 helped spark a 10-point run to take the lead at 5:45 left in the game.
 
“I'm really proud of our kids, their effort, and the way they continued to fight tonight,” said new co-head Brooke Stoehr. “They are trying to figure it out, and we're going to figure it out together.  We'll run into some battles and we just have to run together and fight through it.”
 
Down 43-35, Perez sank a 3-pointer from behind the arc followed by another trey from Keisha Lee cutting Alcorn's lead to 43-41. 
 
Jasmine Bradley forced Alcorn's Isis Smith into a turnover and hit a fast-break layup to tie the game at the 6:01 mark.
 
With 5:45 to play, Perez grabbed the lead with two free throws. The closest Alcorn would get after that was within two.
 
“I'm really proud of her (Perez).  She had a few turnovers and I'm going to give her a hard time,” said Stoehr.  “She battled and she competed her heart out.
 
“That's what we need from that position,” she said. “We need consistent play out of her and she played 36 minutes giving it her all.”
 
Bradley led the pack with six rebounds on the night with six points.  Jasmine Upchurch ranked second on the team with eight points and five rebounds.
 
Lee finished with seven points. Five of those came in the closing minutes of the game.
 
“She can really stretch a defense,” said Stoehr “We just need her to figure out our defense because we need her on the floor.”
 
Alcorn State (0-2) was led offensively by Carolinsia Crumbly, who had 15 points, and Au-Juvan Andrews, who contributed 13.
 
The Lady Demons shot 38 percent from the field while the Lady Braves hit 37 percent.  Alcorn State edged NSU in rebounding 34-31.

Stoehr praised her team's resilience and that of the NSU fans in the Lady Demons' home court debut. 
  
“I couldn't be more proud of the way they responded when they got down,” said Stoehr. “So thankful for the crowd tonight. We can't promise them wins, but we can say our kids are going to play hard and compete.”
 
The Lady Demons will travel to Oxford, Miss. to take on Ole Miss at 11 a.m. Friday. Their next home game is next Tuesday against Wiley College.