CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Northwestern State midfielder Payton Roney remembers the disappointment of missing the Southland Conference Tournament with capable teams in her first two seasons as a Lady Demon.

Roney also remembers being picked to finish 10^th in the SLC preseason poll this season, yet NSU (10-7-1, 7-3-1 SLC) used a five-game conference winning streak to propel itself to its first conference tournament since 2008.

The No. 3 seed Lady Demons will start the SLC Tournament on Wednesday against No. 6 seed McNeese (8-9-1, 4-6-1 SLC) at 4 p.m at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Jack Dugan Soccer Stadium.

"This is definitely rewarding. We've always had the team the past couple of years to make it to the tournament, but we had always fallen short," Roney said. "To see all the hard work we put in to finally make it to the tournament, it's rewarding that we'll have a shot a championship trophy.

"We're hungry and ready to prove people wrong. We were counted out in the preseason … and we want to show people that we're here and we have a good team."

Single-game tickets are $10 with all-tournament passes costing $25 for adults ($8-20 for kids 12-and-under). To watch the game online on the SLC Digital Network, visit southland.org/live or on the SLC app. Sunday's championship game can be seen on ESPN3 via WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN app.

While NSU reversed the tide of recent program history by making the tournament, the Lady Demons will want to harness its older postseason history.

NSU's four SLC Tournament titles (1997, 2000, 2002, 2005) are tied for the most of any current league member. The Lady Demons are making their 11^th SLC Tournament appearance, sixth as a top-three seed.

Top seeds haven't fared well of late in the SLC Tournament, winning just once in the last seven years. The three seed has the most titles, winning three in that span.

NSU coach George Van Linder doesn't put much stock into history or trends, but he does believe playing in the quarterfinals (top two seeds get byes into the semifinals) with a team that doesn't have any tournament experience could be beneficial.

"There is an advantage of getting momentum with (a quarterfinals) win if you can actually win it," said Van Linder, whose team would play No. 2 seed Stephen F. Austin on Friday with a championship game Sunday if the Lady Demons top McNeese. "The more we can play, probably the better it is for us.

"I'll feel good about getting that first game under our belt, and hopefully we'll do well and get rid of any possible tournament jitters."

But the veteran coach who's been to conference tournaments more often than not in his 19^th season as head coach (three NCAA Tournament appearances with two more as an assistant coach) knows tournament play is different from the regular season.

Van Linder also points to NSU's success in one-goal games (6-2 against league opponents) as a mentality shift that's led to the Lady Demons' turnaround and should serve his team well in a pressure-packed tournament environment.

"Players tend to tense up a little bit at the tournament, but we talked about not being afraid to lose," Van Linder said. "We've got to go out and have confidence in ourselves, and we've talked about moments where we've done well this year.

"We've won almost every way you can win – build a quick lead, come from behind, win in overtime. Whatever adversity we face against McNeese, our players are confident enough and comfortable enough to handle it."

NSU had to fend off numerous McNeese attacks late in a 2-1 win in Lake Charles on Sept. 25, including Alex Latham tipping a shot over the crossbar as time expired.

But the Cowgirls went 3-2-1 down the stretch to solidify a playoff spot after missing out in 2015.

"It was a close game last time, and it's going to be a really good game this time," Van Linder said. "We're not going in overconfident after the last result.

"We know McNeese is a different team, but we feel like we're better, too. As the season has gone along, we've been able to adjust to each opponent yet still keeping our personality as a team."

McNeese's Savannah LaRicci is one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league, contributing nine goals and six assists this season.

NSU counters with a team defensive philosophy led by senior defender Patry Carrion and Latham. Latham leads the league in shutouts (seven) and save percentage (.852) while being second in saves (115).

A balanced Lady Demons offensive attack is led by junior Esdeina Gonzalez (fifth in the SLC with six assists) and sophomore April Trowbridge (eighth in the SLC with six goals).