Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Five Northwestern State women's basketball players scored in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Keisha Lee with 21 points, on their way to a 53 percent shooting performance in a 78-59 rout of Sam Houston State Thursday night in the Lady Demons' Southland Conference opener.

Lee led NSU (8-5, 1-0 Southland Conference) in shots taken and scored Thursday. She was 9-of-17 and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Sam Houston fell to 5-7 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

Lee was followed in points by Janelle Perez who had 14, Trudy Armstead with 13, Chelsea Rogers had 12, and Presley Owens had 10. It was the first time that the Lady Demons have had all five starters score 10 or more since Ouachita Baptist in 2010.

As a team, Northwestern State hit 53 percent (32-60) of its shots from the field, and 53 percent (8-15) from behind the arc. It was 18-of-28 in the first half alone.

Sam Houston was 23-of-63 from the field and 6-of-17 from behind the 3-point line.

SHSU had three players score in double-digits. Jasmine Johnson led the way with 13 points and Jazmine Wiley had 12 along with 11 from Angela Beadle.

Beadle had a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Northwestern State jumped out early and jumped out to a 15-point lead by the 8:40 mark in the first half. The Lady Demons pushed the lead to 20 points with 3:13 to play before the break.

They finished at the break with a 49-29 lead and opened the second half on a 14-6 run that gave NSU the largest lead of the game, 26 points.

NSU outrebounded the Bearkats 36-35 and forced the Sam into 11 turnovers with four steals.

NSU is a perfect 5-0 on the season at home, and has a three-game win streak for the first time since 2011. It is also the first time that NSU has had a plus-three record since 2009-10.

NSU will host Lamar on Saturday at 1 o'clock in Prather Coliseum. The Cardinals will come in after a loss to Stephen F. Austin, 85-65, on Thursday.