COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Playing its second top 10 ranked opponent in a 10-day period, Northwestern State struggled breaking a stingy Texas A&M defense in a 112-26 loss Monday night to close out non-conference play.

The No. 9 ranked Aggies (9-0) converted on their first eight field goal attempts of the game, jumping out to a 14-6 lead and never looking back behind efficient offense and lockdown, pressure defense.

"Their press is outstanding, and their pressure is something they're known for," first-year head coach Anna Nimz said. "Sometimes we handled the pressure and sometimes we didn't. We threw it away a lot but there were possessions that we feed it through the middle and made short passes and did what we were supposed to do. That's what we have to take away from this game."

A&M used their in-your-face defense to put the Lady Demons (0-5) on the back foot early in the game forcing two turnover in the first 45 seconds of the game and five within the first two minutes. NSU got some early sparks of life however from freshman Erin Harris who drained an early 3-pointer that made it a 5-3 game.

Osha Cummings, who made her first start at NSU on the night, dropped one in from the same spot three minutes later and Anessa Dussette buried another near the end of the quarter. The three triples in the first quarter were the only ones NSU would make on the night on their game-best 33 percent shooting effort in the first 10 minutes.

The Aggies had a commanding 29-11 lead after the first thanks to their game-best 68 percent effort from the field. The lead ballooned quickly in the second as turnovers and fouls led to a 35-2 second quarter scoring output, giving A&M the 64-13 advantage at halftime.

NSU scored on back-to-back possessions midway through the third quarter behind effort plays from Cummings. The freshman from Zachary found Julia Sion for a wide-open bucket then converted a layup after chasing down an offensive rebound.

The Lady Demons had a better time sorting through the A&M press in the second half but the constant tight defense continued to give NSU fits in the second half. Although the turnovers dropped from 19 in the first half to seven in the second, the offense struggled to get consistent looks on that end of the floor.

"It's frustrating to wear another one of these," Nimz said. "I know it's tough on the girls too, but we've got to let go of preseason real quick and in a hurry. We've got to learn from today, get better from today and start to focus on Houston Baptist."

The Lady Demons open Southland Conference play on Saturday afternoon at HBU.