NATCHITOCHES – Finals week provides plenty of tests for any student-athlete.
 
That includes the Northwestern State women's basketball team, which will work on its first group project in six days when it faces Centenary at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Prather Coliseum.
 
There will be $3 tickets available for any fan who brings a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the Radio M*A*S*H (Make a Smile Happen) toy drive to provide Christmas gifts for children in need in the community.
 
Saturday's game also can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches or via streaming audio at www.NSUDemons.com or on the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which is available for download at the Apple Store or Google Play. Tony Taglavore, in his 11^th season, will handle the play-by-play call of the game.
 
After playing six games in 18 days to open the season, Northwestern State (3-4) is one game into a stretch where it plays five times in 27 days.
 
"We always take academics into account," fourth-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said of why his team's December schedule is more spread out than its November slate. "We'll practice accordingly to get ready but to also allow them to finish strong academically."
 
The Lady Demons have dropped two straight games and held on for a five-point win (71-66 vs. Loyola) against Loyola the last time they faced a non-Division I team.
 
Appropriately with finals arriving on the NSU campus Wednesday, Dupuy said he hopes his squad puts what they learned against ULM in a 63-55 loss this past Sunday.
 
"We saw basically 40 minutes of zone," Dupuy said. "It will help us Saturday. We have to learn some lessons from that game. We have to beat the zone before it sets up. Ball movement, gap penetration and ball fakes have to be used. We were much better in the second half, but we have to continue to get better with it."
 
The Ladies (1-6) snapped their six-game, season-opening losing streak with a 78-45 victory against Southeastern Baptist.
 
Once a twice-a-season rivalry in the early 1980s, the Lady Demons and Ladies have not met since Nov. 30, 2011, when Northwestern State scored a 98-56 victory in Centenary's final season of Division I competition.
 
The Ladies are the third of four non-Division I opponents Northwestern State faces in the 2018-19 season. NSU rolled to a 100-40 win against Division III foe LeTourneau on Nov. 12 before hanging on to defeat NAIA member Loyola on Nov. 24.
 
"It's the same lesson we talk about every time a non-Division I team comes in," Dupuy said. "They're going to have a chip on their shoulder. They all wanted to play at this level. We have to understand this is their Final Four, World Series, Super Bowl, all of that. They will play with a nothing-to-lose attitude. We have to set the tone for 40 minutes."
 
In the past two games, much of that tone has come from the Lady Demons bench.
 
NSU reserves scored 35 of the Lady Demons' 55 points against ULM after tallying 26 of 54 points at Southern Miss on Nov. 27.
 
Jasmyn Johnson has provided most of that punch off the bench, hitting double figures in each game, including a team-high 12 points against ULM. Johnson has been joined in double figures off the bench by Kira Bonner (13 at Southern Miss) and Jocelyn Scott (10 vs. ULM) in the past two games.
 
"Jazz and Joss put a lot of pressure on themselves when they're in the starting lineup and don't start the way they need to," Dupuy said. "They're playing almost as many minutes as they would if they were starters. The can see the flow of the game, how it's being played and how it's being called. There is a level of comfort when they check in. They come in relaxed and ready to play."