NATCHITOCHES – Four Northwestern State senior women's basketball players knew Saturday would be their final career game in Prather Coliseum.

Because of what happened earlier this week around the Southland Conference, Saturday's 1 p.m. matchup with Central Arkansas will double as both a Senior Day celebration and a potential play-in game for the final spot in next week's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas.

Saturday's game can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and 103.1 FM KDBV in Anacoco on the Demon Sports Network. Streaming audio and video also is available at www.NSUDemons.com/watch and through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free through the Apple Store on Google Play. Tony Taglavore, in his 11^th season, will handle the play-by-play call of the game.

Northwestern State (10-18, 5-12) is in a three-way tie for ninth place, one game behind Central Arkansas (11-16, 6-11) for the final spot in the eight-team conference tournament, which begins Thursday at the Merrell Center.

With four teams grouped within one game of the final tournament berth, there are a handful of scenarios in play on the final day of the regular season.

A Central Arkansas win eliminates Northwestern State from a tournament spot, giving the Sugar Bears the No. 8 seed and a berth in Thursday's 11 a.m. tournament opener.

Of the five scenarios involving teams tied at 6-12, two favor the Lady Demons if they top UCA.

Should no other team finishes 6-12 in league play and provided Southeastern Louisiana does not finish tied with anyone in the league standings, the Lady Demons will return to the Merrell Center after a one-year absence.

With a win, Northwestern State also would clinch a tournament berth if McNeese defeats conference-leading Lamar and Incarnate Word loses at Abilene Christian, leaving three teams tied at 6-12 in league play. The Lady Demons earn the tiebreaker in that scenario by virtue of their sweep of Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese's sweep of SLU. Those sweeps eliminate Central Arkansas, leaving the Lady Demons as the No. 8 seed by virtue of their season sweep of McNeese.

The three remaining scenarios – a four-way tie at 6-12, a three-way tie at 6-12 between NSU, Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word and a tie between Central Arkansas and the Lady Demons in which Southeastern Louisiana forces a tie wherever it finishes – result in Northwestern State being eliminated from conference tournament competition. 

The short-handed Lady Demons fell 89-67 to Nicholls on Wednesday while Central Arkansas dropped its home finale to Sam Houston State, 71-59.

With Saturday's game serving as Senior Day for Leah Barnes, Libba Gilliam, Nautica Grant and Sami Thomas, the Lady Demons have even more motivation to finish the season with a win.

"There are emotions involved, and it's all about how you handle it," third-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said. "You can press and not play well, or you can be confident and out with a bang. I've been a part of more of those Senior Days than the former. You want to go out with a bang, but you have to stick with the game plan and let the game come to you. It's the last go-around. You've got all your family and friends there. Hopefully, we're in position to make something special happen for our seniors."

The Lady Demons' quartet of seniors all have played key roles down the stretch.

Gilliam and Grant have been offensive catalysts with Gilliam tallying three straight double-figure scoring games and Grant adding key plays in the fourth quarter of the March 2 double-overtime win at Southeastern Louisiana that kept NSU's tournament hopes alive.

"We talked about it for the last few months about how fast it's going to go for them," Dupuy said. "It's their last time to put on that uniform, and we still have something to play for. Nautica's been able to close. Libba's hit some big shots. Sami's stepped up to run the team. Leah's battling through injuries, but she made a huge play at the end of the third quarter (at Southeastern Louisiana) to get us within one going into the fourth quarter.

"That's what seniors do. They come through with big plays. They do things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet. We need that from all of our seniors on Saturday."