NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State women's basketball team had enough counterpunches to fall just short Wednesday night.
 
The Lady Demons played catchup for most of their Southland Conference matchup with Incarnate Word in Prather Coliseum. Each time Northwestern State tried to rally, the visiting Cardinals came up with an answer in a 57-53 UIW victory.
 
"We did not play well, not at all," second-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said. "They did some things to change their defensive coverages, but we're at the point in the season where anything we see, we've seen and prepared for. It's just being confident in what you've prepared to do and wanting to step up and make plays. We played not to lose and wound up beating ourselves. We beat ourselves and that's what makes it frustrating."
 
Northwestern State (7-19, 2-13) whittled an 11-point first-half deficit to three at halftime, a sign of things to come in the final 20 minutes.
 
After NSU's strong finish to the first half, UIW (4-22, 3-12) darted to an eight-point lead less than five minutes into the third quarter. Once the Cardinals re-established the eight-point advantage on a pair of Melina Merritt free throws at the 4:19 mark of the third quarter, Libba Gilliam awoke for Northwestern State.
 
Playing just her second game after missing five straight because of a concussion, Gilliam scored or assisted on all 10 points in a 10-2 Lady Demons run that tied the game at 38 with 1:33 to play in the third quarter.
 
Gilliam finished with a game-high 17 points, hitting 6 of 10 shots.
 
"She's done a great job, and the reason I'm bringing her off the bench is so we have some sort of offensive firepower off the bench," Dupuy said. "She gives us that spark and that pop. She started hitting in the third and fourth quarter, and we didn't find her enough. We missed her several times."
 
Merritt's second-chance 3-pointer started an 8-0 run to end the third quarter for the Cardinals. The final two points came on a pair of Merritt free throws with 0.8 seconds left when Nautica Grant was called for a foul on Merritt's 3-point heave from 35 feet out.
 
Northwestern State played solid defense in the fourth quarter and cut the UIW lead to one on a pair of Jocelyn Scott free throws with 2:11 to play.
 
From there, Northwestern State committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, helping start a 6-0 surge for the Cardinals.
 
The Lady Demons took advantage of miscommunication between the UIW coaching staff and the referees as the Cardinals were forced to inbound the ball in the backcourt after a timeout.
 
Nautica Grant and Jada Freeman had back-to-back steals in the backcourt that turned into four quick points and cut the lead to three with 34 seconds to play.
 
"It's amazing how good they can be when they do what they're coached to do in practice," Dupuy said. "They can be really, really good. When they get outside of that, they get outside of what they're coached to do and other teams make runs. I always want it to be my fault when we lose. If you choose to go outside of what we ask you to do in the game plan, then that's on you as a player."
 
Gabbi Bowie paced four Cardinals in double figures with 14 points while Imani Robinson (12), Quincy Baker (4) and Meritt (11) also topped 10 points.
 
Gilliam was NSU's lone double-figure scorer, the sixth straight game in which just one Lady Demon has crossed the 10-point plateau.
 
"It's learning how to win," Dupuy said. "In the future, these minutes and experience will help us, but I want to win now."
 
The Lady Demons return to action Saturday, hosting Southeastern Louisiana in NSU's home finale. Northwestern State will honor Tia Youngblood, its lone senior, before the 4 p.m. matchup with the Lady Lions.