NEW ORLEANS – For the third time this year Northwestern State had a road game decided by four points or less, and for the third time it came away with a thrilling win.

The two previous instances, at Arkansas State (80-76) and at ULM (76-72), set the stage for the Lady Demons (8-5, 1-1) to come away with the close win on Thursday at Nicholls to even the conference record and dismiss any lingering effect from the loss at Southeastern.

"It gives them confidence," head coach Anna Nimz said about the close non-conference games the teams have played this year. "They've been in the situation and came out on top. They know if they continue to fight and rally around each other they have a chance to win the game. Them having won those non-conference games gives them confidence any time they step on the court or any time it gets close."

They hope to carry that confidence from not only a hard-fought win but one on the road in league play, into the third of three straight road conference games Saturday at New Orleans (1-8, 0-2).
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Lakefront Arena and can be seen with a subscription on ESPN+. Live, free streaming audio will be available at www.nsudemons.com, on the NSU Athletics mobile app or locally in Natchitoches on 95.9 FM Kix Country.


The calm in the close situations was evident late in Thursday's game as guards Jiselle Woodson, Candice Parramore and Monette Bolden each made critical shots in tough situations, forcing Nicholls to find an answer on the other end.
The Colonels did that much of the night, mostly from star player Chelsea Cain who scored nearly half of her team's points, but when it mattered the absolute most, it was NSU that stood tall. After being outrebounded all night, Jordan Todd pulled in the most important of her team-leading 10 on the offensive glass and went right back to the rim for the critical basket that pushed NSU over the top.

The ensuing free throw made it a three-point game and the Lady Demons, using the momentum from the play, locked down defensively and iced the game making 5-of-6 shots from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds.

"One of our game keys was just overall togetherness," Nimz said about the Nicholls game. "I didn't think we did that against Southeastern and I thought tonight they played together for four quarters, from every single person on the bench to every girl on the court.

"Just really excited about the collective team effort, and obviously all the girls that were able to knock down those shots but just as much the girls that passed up those shots to make the extra pass."

The Lady Demons will look for more of the same as they take on a struggling UNO team that has lost its last six games in a row, including a heartbreaker at home against Nicholls a week ago. Their potential game-winning shot was nullified following a review that would have given them a one-point win instead of one-point loss.

One of the obstacles for the Privateers this season has been the turnover. Entering Saturday they average 23.1 turnovers per game, the most in the Southland Conference and the fifth most in the country. Opponents are averaging 24.4 points per game from those turnovers and the Lady Demons are putting in an average of 18.8 per game. NSU scored 20 points off 17 Nicholls giveaways on Thursday.

The play of the Demon guards will be key, as it has been all season, against a notoriously quick, athletic and scrappy UNO team.

Parramore has been hot offensively over the past three games, scoring 20 or more each time, becoming the first Lady Demons to accomplish that feat since Beatrice Attura did so in the final six games of the 2016-17 season.

She leads the Lady Demons with a 13.3 point per game average, tied for fifth best in the conference, and is one of three players ranked in the top 15 in scoring in the league for the Lady Demons with Bolden seventh and Woodson 13^th.