ITTA BENA, Miss. – Northwestern State became well acquainted with the road after spending more than a week traveling portions of the Midwest. The journey ended with a win at Arkansas State that will hopefully serve as a catalyst for more road trips down the line, starting this weekend.
 
The Lady Demons (4-3) travel to Mississippi Valley State (0-6) for their fourth straight road contest among a stretch of nine in 10 games. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and with live video and audio links available at www.nsudemons.com or on the NSU Athletics mobile app, a free download in either the Apple or Google stores. The game can also be heard locally in Natchitoches on 95.9 FM Kix Country.
 
After eight days on the road the excitement of an 80-76, hard-fought win against the Red Wolves was evident. Contributions up and down the roster, clutch shots from several different players and an overall energy and effort for four quarters NSU had yet to see to that point led to a noteworthy win.
 
It was the first non-conference road win not in the state of Louisiana for the Lady Demons since a victory at Prairie View A&M during the 2011-12 season.
 
"We want to make sure that we're taking care of business and doing what we have to do to make sure that was the beginning of something special," head coach Anna Nimz said. "It was an exciting win for the program. We've talked in our huddles about making a statement, and I told them they made a statement and it's exciting, but what's the next statement going to be. How you play off of a fun win like that is almost as important as the win itself."
 
The Lady Demons had their best shooting night of the season at 46 percent and made went 11-for-22 from beyond the arc with a season-best 12 turnovers, weathering the hot start from Arkansas State and erasing the 13-point, first-quarter deficit because of it.
 
Among the biggest playmakers and plays of the night was Karmelah Dean who provided a bolt of energy to put NSU ahead with five minutes left in the game by bouncing the inbound pass off the defender back to herself for an easy layup.
 
It gave the Lady Demons the lead, sent the bench into a frenzy and seemingly served as a sign that the junior college transfer had found a new level of comfortability at the Division I level.
 
"She's a great player, great court facilitator and a great scorer," Nimz said. "She sees the court really well. I think that even transitioning from an incredible junior college program it's taken her a couple of games to really get the flow, speed and overall aggressiveness of this level. She's gotten better every single game. We believe in her; I think she's only going to get better and she's got so much more in the tank."
 
Dean scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter at ASU, including the inbound play. With that and an and-1 chance in the stretch both giving NSU the lead and answering points on the other end from the home team.
 
She finished with a career-high 16 points and five assists against Arkansas State and after a 12-point, three-assist game at Wichita State. She has three or more assists in each of the past four games, with four total on the year.
 
"It took me a few games to really get into it," Dean said. "It's a new environment, a new way of playing, especially compared to Idaho, so it was nice to finally put forward more for the team. I just want to keep rolling and keep moving forward through the season."
 
Combined with the consistency so far from Monette Bolden and Candice Parramore and the breakout performances of late from Jiselle Woodson, the Lady Demons have an impressive quartet of guards that have run and will run a progressing dynamic offense.
 
Those guards will be put to the test on Saturday as they face a team in Mississippi Valley that has forced 20 or more turnovers in four of its six games including 24 or more in each of the past three games.
 
They have had fewer turnovers in all but one of their six games this year, despite a still winless record.
 
"We've worked a lot on our transition and handling those unforced turnovers," Nimz said. "We've allowed too many balls to get loose and haven't tracked them down or tried to dribble out of a situation instead of securing it and getting a pass out.
 
"There are going to be teams that want to play at a high speed almost creating a chaotic environment and we have to be sure to play with poise and maturity and make people play our speed."
 
NSU has done well to limit its turnovers through seven games, not going over 20 in a game yet, and limiting the number of points from turnovers to its lowest mark (12.4) in the past five seasons.
 
"We have to approach every game the same way," Nimz said. "We're not going in like we're coming off a win, we hope that stems as a catalyst for sure, but we still have to focus on us. It's never easy to win on the road, no matter where you're going and from my understanding it's pretty hard to play at Mississippi Valley."