NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State had four players score in double figures Saturday, but the Lady Demons were unable to overcome a record-tying shooting display from visiting Lamar.
 
The Lady Cardinals connected on a Southland Conference-record-equaling 18 3-pointers, including 10 in the second half, to hand the Lady Demons their first conference loss of the season, 82-72, at Prather Coliseum.
 
"They hit some contested shots, but I don't care if you're open or not, anytime you hit 18 3s, that's pretty good," third-year co-head coach Brooke Stoehr said. "I knew when they hit the stepback 3 in the corner early in the second half, it's going to be a long day for us."
 
After a sluggish start for both teams – Presley Owens hit the game's first basket at the 16:54 mark of the game – Lamar (8-9, 5-1 Southland Conference) woke up offensively.
 
Lamar missed its first five 3-pointers of the game before sinking 18 of its final 33, including a 10-for-18 performance in the second half.
 
A number of those long-range baskets came when Northwestern State (10-7, 5-1) tried to make runs.
 
Lamar held a six-point lead at the half and pushed it to 10 on a pair of Dominique Edwards free throws with 12:40 to play.
 
Beatrice Attura (9 points) answered with a pair of free throws of her own before Shauna Long connected on a 3-pointer to restore the double-figure advantage.
 
Two minutes later, a pair of Janelle Perez free throws cut the Lamar lead to 55-49 before Addesha Collins swished a 3 at the 10:07 mark to bring the lead back to nine.
 
NSU was able to cut the lead to less than nine one more time, on a Perez free throw with 2:04 to play, but a Long layup – one of just nine 2-point baskets by Lamar in the game – gave Lamar a 10-point lead.
 
"You've got to give them credit," Stoehr said. "They knocked down a lot of shots. That's part of what we do in the zone. You've got to force people to make shots, and they made shots today."
 
Long came off the bench to lead Lamar with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Dominique Edwards posted a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds while Teleshia Riley (15 points, five 3-pointers), Collins (13 points, three 3-pointers) and JaMeisha Edwards (12 points, three 3-pointers) also tallied double-figure games for Lamar.
 
Offensively, Perez continued her strong scoring in Southland games, posting a game-high 21 points, while Keisha Lee (14), Presley Owens (13) and Chelsea Rogers (10) also reached double figures.
 
The Lady Demons committed 12 first-half turnovers before righting the ship in the second half, turning the ball over just four times.
 
NSU also became more aggressive in the second half, getting to the free-throw line 23 times and making 20. However, Lamar's hot shooting kept the Lady Demons at bay.
 
"We did a better job of valuing the basketball," Stoehr said. "We attacked. We got to the free-throw line. We just didn't shoot it very well from 3 (7-for-26), and they knocked shots down, over and over. Every time we got it to six, they'd hit another one and extend it to nine. It's deflating, but we'll watch the film, get better and grow from it."
 
Northwestern State resumes its season-long, three-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts in-state rival Nicholls at 6:30 p.m.