STILLWATER, Okla. – A trip home and a welcome opportunity await Northwestern State women's basketball when it takes on Oklahoma State on Friday evening.

Hopefully with many, if not all, of the early-season and first-game jitters gone following the Lady Demons' (1-0) season-opening win against LeTourneau, a measuring-stick game against a Power 5 opponent will serve as the next step in the development of the 22-23 squad.

Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. from Gallagher-Iba Arena. There will be no live video stream of the game, but live streaming audio can be heard at www.nsudemons.com or on the NSU Athletics Mobile app, a free download in either the Apple or Google stores.

"I'm excited for our girls," head coach Anna Nimz said. "They (OSU) have a new coach, brought in a lot of transfers and I think it's going to be a highly competitive game. Any time you can have your players go up against one of the top teams in the Big 12, that's a great opportunity. It gives us a chance to see where we're at but also allows the girls to show up and show out. It'll be fun to play them so early and give our girls a glimpse at what it takes."

The opportunity and excitement for the moment is also not lost on assistant coach Leasa Ailshie either, who grew up just a couple of hours away from the OSU campus.

"It's a thrill to get to play in a historic, rich venue like Gallagher-Iba Arena," Nimz said. "It's also great for Coach Ailshie to go back home to Oklahoma. But even beyond that, as a former player it's very special to be courtside and coaching in a gym that you watched so many games at as a child."

The last time Ailshie stepped foot on the floor at Gallagher-Iba was during her time as a player at Sam Houston when the Bearkats played Oklahoma State early in the 2007-08 season.

The Lady Demons are looking for a better outcome that the Bearkats had that day against the Cowgirls which will begin with one of the most important takeaways from Monday's game – playing cleaner basketball.

While NSU forced LeTourneau into 31 turnovers in the game, the 19 it committed throughout the night were much more than Nimz would like to see at any point.

"We have to play a cleaner game and we need to play quick but efficient in our speed," Nimz said. "That's something that we're continuing to work on."

A direct product of the Lady Demons' relentless defensive nature was the extremely limited number of high-quality shots the Yellowjackets were able to take. NSU held LeTourneau to 22 percent shooting from the field, the lowest total in a game in the past six seasons.

"We have some more length and are bigger on the perimeter and the inside this year, so I think the matchups are really good," Nimz said. "The biggest difference is us playing with more poise. OSU plays with a lot of I.Q. and so it's about being more disciplined on the defensive end. 

"Offensively, their defense is a little bit different than what we've seen even from lasty year. So being able to make an adjustment, not force stuff and don't predetermine anything. I feel like after seeing the scout in practice it went well and they see what we're trying to accomplish."