NEW ORLEANS – Northwestern State had a chance down by five entering the fourth quarter, but some critical turnovers and too many missed shots opened the door for New Orleans to take the 65-50 win on Wednesday night.

The better second-half performance over the weekend seemed to carry over into Wednesday's game as the Lady Demons (0-11, 0-6 SLC) showed the same hustle and determination against UNO.

Back-to-back jumpers from Tristen Washington and Erin Harris gave NSU an early 6-2 lead, a lead they would hold for more than half of the first quarter. Harris made another late jumper to push the Lady Demons back up by one, but UNO took the lead into the second on a layup with 12 seconds left in the quarter.

Despite the eight turnovers to start the game NSU trailed by just a point and looked much more settled. The efficiency on offense was evidenced by the five assists on the five made field goals in the quarter, by far the best on the night.

Six more turnovers in the second quarter kept the efficiency of the NSU offense at bay and fortunately for the Lady Demons, the Privateers weren't able to take advantage on their end.

UNO extended its one-point lead to six by the end of the half, with an 8-2 stretch over the final five minutes of the quarter.

"I told them at half I thought that was the hardest they'd played all year," first-year head coach Anna Nimz said. "They seemed to feel a little different about the game coming in and I was excited for them. We made some adjustments at halftime to their extended 2-3 zone, but when adversity hits, right now we're kind of folding on it and not making smart basketball plays."

The Lady Demons gave themselves the best chance to come away with their first win of the season by limiting the turnovers to just two in the third quarter. Anessa Dussette drilled a 3 with three minutes left that made it a five-point game, but UNO answered with one of their own on the ensuing possession.

NSU finished the quarter with a quick 5-2 run with all five points coming from the free throw line, including four from Kalen Green that made it a 44-39 game going into the final period.

The adversity that cost the Lady Demons in the final period hit almost immediately. Another 3 from UNO opened the quarter and after a Dussette jumper to answer the Lady Demons went cold from the floor and committed some costly turnovers.

Seven straight misses and three turnovers later UNO turned the two-possession lead into the largest of the night, capped by consecutive 3's from the Privateers.

"We talked about coming in if you give a team that's 0-4 some confidence, they're going to rally and they did," Nimz said. "We were playing better early because we found some confidence so it was a battle that we lost and it's frustrating."

UNO went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter and 8-of-11 from the free throw line to turn the five-point lead into a 15-point victory.