NATCHITOCHES – An early Central Arkansas push gave the Bears a lead they wouldn't relinquish Friday in a 3-1 win at Northwestern State in the regular season finale.

The Bears (7-11-1, 4-6-1 Southland Conference) scored two goals in the first 22 minutes, and they held off a few NSU (5-10-4, 2-6-3 SLC) surges for the win.

Sophomore Ashley Smith chipped a shot over NSU goalkeeper Brooke Bourbonais for the first goal in the 8^th minute. Junior Shelby Wilson played a long ball to a sprinting Smith.

Camille Bassett scored the first of her two goals 15 minutes later, finishing near post on an assist from sophomore Alex Moore.

The Lady Demons had the momentum for stretches of the match, outshooting UCA 7-4 in the first half before eventually giving way to a 16-13 shot edge for the Bears.

But NSU threatened early in the second half when sophomore Sage Leffew scored her first goal of the season on a rebounded free kick from junior Camila Ardila. Ardila picked up her second assist of the season.

NSU challenged UCA throughout the match with solid scoring opportunities, including a freshman Brittany Caserma chance that she missed just wide after beating goalkeeper Anna Hughes 1-on-1.

Sophomore Shelby Drope had a shot ring off the crossbar in another near-goal.

But Bassett ended the NSU comeback on a breakaway goal in the 60^th minute. Smith picked up a loose ball and hit a streaking Bassett for the assist.

"We had more offensive chances in the first half, but they were up 2-0," said NSU coach George Van Linder. "We had some chances, and you just wonder if it could have been a different game by converting those chances after they scored the early goal.

"We came out early in the second half and played better, but credit UCA because they took us out of our game by making it a physical game, and we played into it."

NSU honored its five seniors Friday, but none were more inspiring than Joanna McFarling. McFarling, who tore her ACL this spring and wasn't able to compete all season,
played the first five minutes of the match.

"Jo just works so hard, and we talked about giving her the opportunity to end her career on the field tonight," Van Linder said. "She's an Honor College student and exemplifies the type of young woman that we want our program to resemble.

"We feel that way about all of our seniors, and they've provided great leadership this season."

Other seniors honored include Shelby Balmer – who just missed a header Friday – Cassandra Briscoe, Natalie Pena and Bourbonais.

The seniors won't make a Southland Conference Tournament appearance in their careers after NSU was mathematically eliminated heading into this match, but the Lady Demons made statistical strides to illustrate the improvement in 2015.

NSU's 33 goals scored ties the ninth-best in the program's 20-year history. The Lady Demons allowed 29 goals this season, tied for the best since 2009 (allowed 29 in 2011) and ninth-best in program history.

The plus-four goal differential is the first positive number since 2009 and just the eighth time it's happened at NSU.

Against the six teams that qualified for the SLC Tournament, NSU posted a 2-3-1 record.

NSU tied LSU and Stephen F. Austin to highlight a season full of promise and potential but ended in miss opportunities and a handful of defensive lapses. The tie against SFA, the regular-season champion, marks the first time NSU scored points in the standings against the Lady Jacks since 2008, the last time NSU made the SLC Tournament.

The Lady Demons will attempt to learn from the heartache in 2015, and the majority of players will return as 23 of 31 were either freshmen or sophomores.