KATY, Texas – The Northwestern State women's basketball team hopes an inordinately high number of twos equals a certain No. 3 this weekend.
 
NSU is back in its second home – the Merrell Center – as the No. 2 seed, two wins away from its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, as it begins play in the Southland Conference Tournament on Saturday.
 
The Lady Demons (19-10) will face No. 6 seed Sam Houston State at 3:30 p.m. in Northwestern State's third straight tournament semifinal appearance.
 
Unlike last season's four-wins-in-four-days run, NSU had to wait two extra days to find out its first opponent in Katy.
 
"We've played everybody at least once," fourth-year co-head coach Brooke Stoehr said. "We played Nicholls twice. We played SFA twice. We played Sam Houston the second game of conference play way back in January. We're probably the least familiar with them in terms of playing them in proximity to the tournament.
 
"We feel good about our draw. The biggest thing for us is we have to execute. We have to play with energy. We have to play with great effort, and we have to concentrate very well."
 
The Lady Demons defeated Sam Houston State (13-17), 69-49, in Natchitoches in the teams' lone meeting of the season on Jan. 4.
 
In that game, NSU's Janelle Perez hit a remarkable 7 of 8 3-pointers and scored 27 points in a matchup of first-team All-Southland Conference guards. Sam Houston's Shernise Robertson, the Southland's leading scorer during the season, scored just seven points.
 
Robertson had 20 points in Sam Houston's 73-64 first-round win against Nicholls and added 19 more in a 78-70 quarterfinal win against Stephen F. Austin on Friday.
 
The second postseason meeting between the longtime conference rivals will be in a place Northwestern State has enjoyed a great deal of success.
 
After a loss to McNeese State in 2013, NSU has won its past seven SLC Tournament games in the Merrell Center, including three by at least 14 points.
 
"It has been a good place for us," Stoehr said. "Our team feels comfortable there. They have a confidence about them. Any time you have success in a place, it helps in terms of their confidence when they walk through the door. You see that with a lot of teams.
 
"Hopefully, that will be the case and our team will walk in there with confidence. They've been successful there."
 
One thing that has not changed for the Lady Demons is their approach to March Madness
 
"We have one game," Stoehr said. "We've approached that the same way as we did when we went in last year as a six seed. You can't think in terms of, 'We have four games in four days, three games in three days, two games in two days.' We have one game. If you don't win that first game, you don't get that second game.
 
"Our players understand that. We've been very clear about it. They understand that, just because we have a double bye, it just means we're playing on a different day. If you don't win, we don't advance. They understand how the postseason works."
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with the broadcast team of David Saltzman (play-by-play) and Van Chancellor (color) calling the action. The Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and including 92.1 FM KSYR and 103.1 FM in Leesville and Many, will broadcast the radio call. Tony Taglavore, in his eighth season, will deliver the play by play.