Box Score NATCHITOCHES – A stout defense by the Northwestern State women's basketball team and three Lady Demons who scored in double figures gave the Lady Demons a 66-54 win over league-leading Stephen F. Austin Thursday night in Southland Conference action.

Trudy Armstead and Janelle Perez, who had 15 points followed by 10 from Kourtney Pennywell, helped NSU (10-7, 3-2 SLC) overcome SFA (10-7, 4-1 SLC), who lost for the first time in eight games. Perez had a game-high six assists and made no turnovers while running NSU's attack.

The Lady Demon defense held the Ladyjacks to 37 percent (21-57) shooting from the field and 20 percent (2-10) from behind the arc. Stephen F. Austin also turned the ball over 16 times, leading to NSU scoring 15 points.

NSU shot 45 percent (22-49) from the field and 31 percent (4-13) from behind the arc.

The game was tied at 40 with 7:45 to play but the Lady Demons scored the next five points, three on a Perez bomb, on a 26-14 run. During the last two minutes, the Lady Demons used free throws to cushion the lead, hitting 10-of-13 during that stretch.

Stephen F. Austin jumped out to an early lead, scoring 12 of the game's first 16 points by the 11:39 mark. Northwestern State used a 9-0 run to grab the lead from SFA with 8:41 to play.

Beatrice Attura, who finished with six points, led the way in that run with two layups.

Perez started it with a layup followed by back-to-back layups from Attura. A 3-pointer from Chelsea Rogers gave NSU a 13-12 lead.

From there, it would go back-and-forth until NSU finished on an 8-0 run to finish at the break with a 28-21 lead.

The Ladyjacks tied the game for the sixth time with 16:38 remaining. Neither team would get a larger than three point lead until the final (10^th) tie, at 40, with 7:45 to play.

Keisha Lee's streak of 12 straight games with double-digit points was snapped. She had eight in the game. Rogers had seven, Meredith Graf had three, and Emily Spector had two, on a jumper to beat the halftime buzzer.

Armstead led the Lady Demons in rebounds with eight. She finished ahead of Pennywell and Rogers who each had five.

The game's two leading scorers were SFA standouts Daylyn Harris and Porsha Roberts, who had 18 and 17, respectively.

Antioneete Carter and Taylor Ross tied Armstead for the game lead in rebounds.

The Lady Demons will have Saturday off before returning to action at Central Arkansas on Jan. 23 for a 5:30 tip. That game is the first of a two-game road stint that ends with Oral Roberts the following Saturday.