NATCHITOCHES – With a roster loaded with new faces and new talent, Northwestern State women's basketball officially turns the page to a new season on Tuesday night.
 
The Lady Demons open the 2021-22 season with the first of two home games this week beginning with the first game against a non-Division I opponent since 2019. NSU hosts Centenary (1-0) for a 6:30 p.m. tip inside Prather Coliseum.
 
The game will be broadcast on www.nsudemons.com with live streaming video and free audio feeds available featuring another newcomer to the program in first-year, play-by-play man Tyler Moody. Both streams as well as live stat links are also available on the NSU Athletics mobile app, a free download in either the Apple or Google stores. All NSU women's basketball games this season can also be heard on 95.9 FM Kix Country in Natchitoches.
 
Even with a new season now here and essentially an entire new team on the floor, one pillar second-year head coach Anna Nimz builds her program on is focus. Focus in everything you do and how you prepare directly impacts how you perform. That sits at the core of what Nimz wants to see as the Lady Demons take the floor for the first time this year.
 
"We've struggled at times during the preseason of coming into practice ready to go," she said. "We've talked a lot about it and have tried to curb that so I'm excited to see us take the floor against somebody else and see if that's the difference maker."
 
"They've had a good preseason, worked hard and we've added a lot, but at the end of the day we're teaching an entire philosophy to a brand-new team. Even though we have three returners it's still drastically different from what their first experience was with us."
 
Erin Harris, Osha Cummings and JaMiya Braxton are the only players back from a challenging 2020-21 campaign. Forced into many roles usually reserved for older, more experienced players, the now sophomores have the valuable experience on their side to add to a much deeper and seasoned squad.
 
The additions of five Division I transfers and three all-region JUCO players gives the Lady Demons that experience they lacked a year ago. Tuesday's season opener will be the first opportunity for the next steps in the evolution of NSU women's basketball under Nimz.
 
"Through the recruiting process one thing we had to discuss with them is that we are trying to rebuild and reignite something that has a tradition-rich history," Nimz said. "It's not going to happen overnight but we believe these are the players that are going to get us there.
 
"I think it's imperative that we have some games early that will allow us to build some chemistry on the court. How we perform in these games is going to be paramount for our success down the road."
 
Maintaining focus and finding early success are the first two aspects of starting the new year the right way. The final intangible comes from within and fuels the will for success day in and day out.
 
"I want to see us come out and play with passion for 40 minutes," Nimz said. "We're going to approach every single game, regardless of who we play, from a scout, a coaching stand point, from a prep stand point the exact same way. I want to see that passion to have the opportunity to play a game in the first place. The season's here and they can get rid of that preseason feel that every day is practice. Now, it's go time."