HAMMOND – Northwestern State begins the final stretch of the season with three straight road games with a different challenge than the team has faced all season.
 
The Lady Demons (7-19, 4-13 SLC) start the season-ending stretch with a trip to Southeastern Louisiana (11-15, 8-9 SLC) on Saturday afternoon as a part of a doubleheader matinee with the NSU men.
 
Fans can hear the action beginning at 1 p.m. on 92.3 FM The Fox with commentator Tony Taglavore. Live streaming audio will also be available on www.nsudemons.com or on the NSU Athletics mobile app, which is available for download from the Apple Store or Google Play.
 
With their loss on Wednesday to Stephen F. Austin combined with Nicholls' win against Houston Baptist, the Lady Demons were eliminated from postseason contention. With still three game left to play in the season, interim head coach Aaron Swinson is expecting no drop off in effort or energy.
 
"It's all about pride and the love for the game," Swinson said. "When you have those things, it doesn't matter what is out there at the end. Hopefully that will carry over for the younger group because they see what it's going to take to get to the next level.
 
The finish line has not been crossed yet. We've got to keep at it and hopefully be able to carry over and keep that momentum going towards the future of this program."
 
Even without the opportunity to join the postseason field, the Lady Demons could still play a major role in how the seedings shake out. Over their final three games, NSU plays three teams fighting for tournament spots and potential first or second round byes.
 
Currently Southeastern sits in the seventh spot in the standings, a half-game ahead of Nicholls and one game ahead of Central Arkansas. Still fighting to secure their spot in the field the Lady Demons are expecting just as good an effort from the Lady Lions as they saw the first time.
 
"It's going to be a dog fight," Swinson said. "They're trying to get in good position in conference and we just want to make sure we continue to try and do our best and put ourselves in position to win a basketball game."
 
The Lady Demons are also hopeful for another big game from Kira Bonner.
 
The senior was the offense for NSU in the first meeting, netting 31 of the 56 total points in a 72-56 loss on Jan. 25 in Prather Coliseum. With such dominance from one player, Swinson expects the defense to adjust in a major way this time.
 
"Kira had a big game against them last time," Swinson said. "I'm expecting them to try and box-and-one her and try and limit her touches. We've got to make sure we move the ball and not keep it on one side and distribute it to more than one person."
 
Southeastern has hovered around 60 points and 40 percent field goal shooting all season, near the middle of pack in the Southland rankings. One consistent has been their free throw shooting, which is second in the league, even with the limited number of attempts overall.
 
The Lady Lions shoot 74 percent from the line and have shot that or better in each of their last five games including a 14-for-15 performance at Sam Houston State. On the season Southeastern has been to the free throw line fewer than any other team in the conference but take advantage when they get there.
 
"I think it's just their style of play," Swinson said. "When they do get to the free throw line, they work to get there. Their guards do a good job of getting downhill and getting open shots. Their post players get inside, make moves and make easy layups. Even though they don't get to the line a lot they're still an aggressive team."
 
The Lady Demons have sent opponents to the free throw line 642 times this season, second most in the conference and average more than 20 fouls per game, most in the country.
 
"This team is going to be really tough," Swinson said. "They're going to do everything they can to keep us on our heels. We've got to do whatever we can to keep them in front of us. I think they have a good balance inside and out and we've got to do what we can to slow them down."
 
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