NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State and UL Monroe have met 89 times in women's basketball.
 
If Lady Demons coach Jordan Dupuy has his way, they'll meet plenty more, starting with Sunday's 2 p.m. matchup inside Prather Coliseum.
 
Sunday's game can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches or via streaming audio on www.NSUDemons.com or through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, available for download at the Apple Store or on Google Play. Tony Taglavore, in his 11^th season, will handle the play-by-play call of the game.
 
"It's good for recruiting and for marketing basketball in Louisiana," said Dupuy, who is 2-0 against the Warhawks in his first two seasons at NSU. "It should be played. It makes sense from a logistical standpoint. (ULM coach) Jeff (Dow) and I have talked about playing every year. It's good competition. We already go against each other in recruiting battles."
 
The Lady Demons (3-3) have captured back-to-back wins in the series that resumed in December 2016 after a five-year hiatus. Northwestern State leads the series 51-38, its most games against a single opponent in program history.
 
The two most recent wins have come in diametrically opposite forms.
 
It took a Beatrice Attura 3-pointer with 21.9 seconds left for the Lady Demons to defend their home court in 2016. Attura's clutch bucket produced a 67-65 victory at Prather Coliseum.
 
This past season, Northwestern State went to Monroe and walked away with a 70-48 victory that featured a then-career-high 13-point performance from West Monroe native Jasmyn Johnson.
 
As with any coach, Dupuy would prefer to grab a third straight win against the Warhawks in the latter fashion rather than the former.
 
"Always," he said. "At the end of the game, if we have one more point than they do, that's all that really matters. Jeff would say the same thing."
 
ULM (3-2) nearly has matched its win total from the 2017-18 season when it went 4-26.
 
The Warhawks have won three straight games, including consecutive wins against Southland Conference opponents McNeese (69-60, Nov. 18) and New Orleans (57-44, Nov. 25). The victory at New Orleans was ULM's first road win since December 2016.
 
Arsula Clark has paced the victories, topping 20 points in each win and averaging 24 points in that span.
 
"They're a team that's playing with a back-against-the-wall mentality," Dupuy said. "They've beaten two of our conference teams. They're playing extremely well, scoring the ball better and defending a lot better."
 
ULM has held four of its first five opponents to 62 points or less. The lone exception was in an 86-42 loss at Texas Tech on Nov. 11.
 
Northwestern State, meanwhile, has scored at least 71 points in all three of its home games, going 3-0 in the process.
 
Sunday's game tips of a more relaxed stretch for the Lady Demons. After playing six games in an 18-day stretch, Northwestern State plays five December games in 27 days.
 
"What we have to do, as a staff, is find a balance of getting prepared and letting them recover their bodies and minds," Dupuy said. "We had an off day Wednesday. Thursday was a light lift and light practice. We'll hit it hard Friday, shorten it up Saturday and be ready to go on Sunday."