HAMMOND – Coming off a tough loss, the last thing one would expect a team to do is find positives in that defeat.
 
That is exactly what the Northwestern State women's basketball team focused on following Wednesday's loss at Incarnate Word.
 
Despite the loss, the Lady Demons remain alive in the chase for one of the three remaining spots in the Southland Conference Tournament as they face Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. Saturday in the University Center in Northwestern State's 2018-19 road finale.
 
Saturday's game can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and on the Demon Sports Network. Streaming audio is available at www.NSUDemons.com/watch and through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play. Tony Taglavore, in his 11^th season, will handle the play-by-play call of the game.
 
"They're in the same boat we are," third-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said of the Lady Lions. "McNeese is in the same boat. UIW now is in the same boat. Every game has been critical for a long time. We still have something to play for. We control our own destiny. We have to make sure we don't dig ourselves a hole like we did Wednesday and have done in the past. We've got to be ready to go for all four quarters. This team will play much better in its home arena than it did here (in Natchitoches)."
 
The Lady Demons (9-17, 4-11) defeated Southeastern Louisiana (9-17, 4-11), 58-47, on Jan. 26 thanks to a strong final five minutes.
 
Northwestern State's win marked the first time the Lady Demons won a game they trailed entering the fourth quarter. Defensively, NSU produced one of its best 10-minute stretches of defense, limiting the Lady Lions to four points.
 
"We turned them over, put pressure on the ball," Dupuy said. "Libba (Gilliam) had a couple of blocked shots in the back of our press. We executed offensively We handled their pressure. If we could bottle up those five minutes and play like that, we would win a lot of games."
 
Northwestern State had the offensive equivalent of that fourth quarter Wednesday night in a 100-91 loss at Incarnate Word.
 
The Lady Demons scored 33 points in the final quarter, including 17 from senior guard Nautica Grant. It was part of a 62-point second half against the Cardinals that gave the Lady Demons some positive momentum despite the final result.
 
"We talked about the things we did do well," Dupuy said. "I told them on the bus if you had told me we would score 91 points and shoot 47 percent from the field that we would have won the game. We had 62 points in the second half. We had 24 assists and (16) turnovers, which is good. We shot extremely well from the 3, going 12-for-26. There were a lot of positives from an offensive standpoint."
 
A win Saturday would give Northwestern State its second season sweep of a Southland opponent and its first win in Hammond since 2016. A season ago, the Lady Demons fell 71-65 at the University Center despite a career-best game from Gilliam, who dropped in 30 points.
 
"I don't know if Libba will remember that, but we'll help her to remember it and hopefully get a good feeling," Dupuy said. "They're not going to guard her the same way they did last year. They let her float around offensively, man and zone. When she sets her feet, she can knock them down consistently. They'll make her move her feet."
 
Gilliam had eight points in the first meeting of the season between the teams, but she made an impact on the other end of the floor, something Dupuy said is a must if the Lady Demons are to complete their first sweep of Southeastern Louisiana since 2016.
 
"We'll need her on both ends," Dupuy said. "The reason we made the run we did here was because she was big on the back end of our press. She had two big blocks. She made it tough for them to score over the top, and she rebounded. We're going to need her again on both ends Saturday."