NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State continues its three-game home stretch to start the bulk of Southland Conference play with a rare Sunday afternoon tilt with Houston Baptist.
 
Tip-off for game one of the NSU doubleheader day is set for 2 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum with the NSU men slated for a 4 p.m. start immediately following the women's game.
 
Live coverage of both SLC games is available at www.nsudemons.com and can be heard locally on 92.3 FM The Fox (women) and 95.9 FM Kix Country (men).
 
The Lady Demons (3-9, 0-3 SLC) had trouble adjusting to the increased pressure Texas A&M-Corpus Christi put on the painted area in the second half of Thursday's loss. The Islanders scored 42 points in the paint, 26 coming in the second half alone, and outrebounded NSU 47 to 26 on the night.
 
"We can't start thinking about Sunday," head coach Jordan Dupuy said following Thursday's game. "We've got to win Friday. We've got to win every single day first and when you do that the games become easier. It's about doing everything we can in the weight room, in the film room and in practice and we'll go from there."
 
Even in defeat, junior forward Lacee Savage had one of the best performances of her career in Thursday's game. Savage played 33 minutes, despite picking up two early fouls, scoring a game-high 12 points with seven rebounds.
 
Her performance against Corpus Christi is what Dupuy hopes to see much more of during the next several weeks of play.
 
"We need that from her," Dupuy said. "She can handle it; she can get to the rim and do a lot of things defensively using her athleticism too. That's something she's capable of every single game and we need her to do that in order for us to be successful, we just need it more consistently."
 
Savage and the Lady Demons look to get off a season-long five-game losing streak with Houston Baptist (4-8, 0-3 SLC) making its way to Natchitoches on Sunday.
 
The Huskies have lost their last four games in a row and six of their last seven, the lone win a 72-65 victory at ULM in early December. In their most recent game at Central Arkansas, they were held to a season-low 39 points on 30 percent shooting with their third straight minus 10 or more rebounding margin.
 
HBU is one of just two teams in the Southland Conference without a player averaging double figures in scoring. Freshman Timia Jefferson is close at 9.9 points per game in nine appearances this season with regular starter Megan Valdez-Crader at 8.9 per outing.
 
Kira Bonner is the only Lady Demon in double figures at 12.6 per game, the 10^th best average in the conference.
 
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