NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State endured a sluggish start that lasted longer than anticipated Monday night.
Leading visiting Central Baptist of the NAIA by four at halftime, NSU found its long-range stroke in the third quarter, opening up a 31-point bulge en route to an 86-56 victory at Prather Coliseum.
"We were very passive to start the game," fourth-year co-head coach
Brooke Stoehr said. "I didn't like our energy. We've got to be much better in that respect. Give Central Baptist credit. I always said they're a well-coached team, which is why we play them. They're going to execute."
Despite having seven healthy players at the start of the game, Central Baptist held a 15-12 lead after the first quarter. The Mustangs then saw their roster dwindle to six players when Courtney Davidson suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter.
Still, Central Baptist led until
Emerald Mayfield's layup at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter gave Northwestern State (3-2) a lead it would not relinquish.
Three times before halftime, the Mustangs sliced NSU's lead back to one point, including with 9 seconds left when Kaylen Taylor (17 points) knocked down two free throws.
Taylor, however, fouled
Beatrice Attura on a 3-pointer with 1 second left in the half, and Attura knocked down all three free throws to put NSU up four at the break.
In the third quarter, Northwestern State found the range from beyond the arc and delivered its highest-scoring quarter of the young season
Buoyed by a 7-for-8 performance from long range, NSU outscored Central Baptist 34-7 in the third quarter, taking a 31-point lead into the fourth quarter on a
Shahd Abboud layup at the buzzer.
Abboud paced four NSU players in double figures with a career-best 26 points. The junior college transfer from Jacksonville College connected on 5 of 8 3-pointers, including a perfect 3-for-3 during NSU's third-quarter eruption.
"Shahd got her left foot down and had some nice catch-and-shoot 3s," said Stoehr, who along with co-head coach
Scott Stoehr wore purple and black ribbons on their lapels in memory of Northwestern State President Emeritus Dr. Randall J. Webb, whose funeral was held earlier in the day in Prather Coliseum.
"She's a really good 3-point shooter when she does that. It was good to see her get some shots to fall in the second half. She has to pick and choose her times to attack. There are certain chances for her to attack within our offense. She's going to be smart about that and continue to grow."
Joining Abboud in double figures were
Beatrice Attura (18 points),
Janelle Perez (11) and
Ndey Sonko (10).
Sonko's scoring total gave her back-to-back double-figure scoring games after not having one as a freshman. She grabbed eight rebounds, one off Mayfield's team-leading total, as NSU scraped out a 47-43 edge on the boards.
"Ndey really hit the boards and played with great energy,"
Brooke Stoehr said. "She had a couple of nice turnaround finishes in the paint. We need her to be consistent like that. We started her in the second half. She gave us really good effort and really good minutes. I'm really proud of the consistent effort she's had the last couple of games."
In addition to Taylor, Aaliyah Bock and Rachel Etherington each had 11 points for Central Baptist. Bock grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to record a double-double.
Northwestern State returns to action Friday when it heads to Las Cruces, N.M., for the Aggie Thanksgiving Classic hosted by New Mexico State. NSU faces the host team at 2 p.m. Friday before playing Long Beach State at 2 p.m. Saturday.
