HAMMOND – A blistering first half shooting effort for Southeastern Louisiana put Northwestern State behind the tide early in an 87-52 loss on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Demons (0-10, 0-5 SLC) saw SLU convert on 64 percent of their shots in the first half including a 69 percent clip from beyond the arc to jump out to and early and big lead. An adjustment at the half by NSU led to a much closer game in the third and fourth but the early shooting fire for the Lady Lions (4-5, 3-3 SLC) carried them to the win.
"Nothing can be accomplished without effort," first-year head coach Anna Nimz said. "In that first half they 100 percent out shot us, out rebounded us and out efforted us. That's disappointing because I know what they're capable of and they showed it in the second half. We challenged a new starting group in that half and they really responded to that. Some of them hadn't started together or started at all but they took that opportunity and capitalized on it."
SLU started quick from beyond the arc with a 3 on its first possession. Erin Harris answered with one of her own two minutes later and drained a jumper minutes later but two more treys from the Lady Lions had stretched the lead to eight at the midway point of the first.
A quality start on both ends of the floor for Harris came to a halt though after picking up her second shortly after sending her to the bench. She would eventually foul out after a pair of free throws and an assist in the fourth quarter, battling her foul situation throughout the game.
"I told her that was her best start in the last three games and to just grow from it," Nimz said of Harris. "I thought she came out guns blazing, focused on defense, her shot was looking good and felt like she looked comfortable, but foul trouble got us. Without that I think she could have continued to be a definite impact player in this game."
A hot first quarter led to a sweltering second for SLU who poured in 28 points on 11-of-15 attempts including a 4-for-5 effort from deep. The NSU deficit was 51-18 after the first 20 minutes.
While a slight adjustment was made to the starting lineup for the third quarter, the biggest change for NSU in the second half was the effort displayed according to Nimz.
The Lady Demons won the third quarter 17-14 on the back of Kalen Green's 12-point outburst where she went 2-for-3 from deep. Green finished the game with a team and career-high 18 on the day.SLU did its damage from the free throw line in the third making seven shots preventing NSU from cutting into the lead more than it did.
Playing in her backyard, Zachary native, freshman Osha Cummings was a picture of consistent effort, something she's brought to the table all year, that turned into more production this time around.
Cummings played the full 40 minutes and set a new career high with 14 points, adding four rebounds with a steal and an assist to fill up her stat line.
"We've told her every single game that even though it may not show up in the point column, she produces for us," Nimz said. "She does all the intangibles and it's hard to pull her off the court because of that. The entire staff is incredible pleased with her and she's really getting a great opportunity at a young age to fill such a big roll. Instead of just filling it because of numbers, she's capitalizing on it."
The Lady Demons continue their three-game road stretch on Wednesday night at New Orleans.
