NATCHITOCHES – One constant for Northwestern State under second-year head coach Anna Nimz has been the effort, fight and determination seen on the floor night after night and game after game.
 
Whether it's Jiselle Woodson flying into the media table trying to chase down a loose ball, Candice Parramore tumbling over on the floor after another drive to the basket and another foul, or Monette Bolden flying through to snatch a rebound around the basket the Lady Demons (9-10, 2-6) continue to show the effort needed to win.
 
While their hard work and resolve haven't resulted in wins of late, the sense remains with every new opportunity that a reminder of that victorious feeling will come again after 40 minutes.
 
NSU has its next chance with another fresh-on-their-mind opponent in McNeese (9-12, 4-4) who makes its way to Prather Coliseum on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game can be seen with subscription on ESPN+ with live streaming audio available at www.nsudemons.com/watch, on the NSU Athletics mobile app or locally on 95.9 FM Kix Country. 
 
After nearly flipping the script on HBU with a 14-0 run, two better than one the Huskies made a week ago in Houston, to finish the second half, the Lady Demons could not carry the offensive momentum into the third quarter like they'd hope to.
 
Although they won the rebounding battle for the second time against HBU, it was turnovers once again that proved costly. While the total number wasn't as high in the first meeting, the cost was great as HBU turned them directly into 17 points, 12 of which coming in the second half.
 
While the NSU defense held the Huskies to one of their lowest shooting percentages of the season, on the offensive end, the struggles seeing the ball go through the hoop continue to plague the team, finishing the game shooting 19 percent from the field in the second half.  
 
"I'd love to say we're a defensively driven team right now, but I think we're offensively minded and unfortunately we're not scoring," Nimz said following Thursday's loss to HBU. "It's making it hard for the girls, but I think they're trying. I think that they put forth a lot of effort, it's just not showing on the win-loss column."
 
Among the list of positive takeaways from an otherwise challenging stretch has been the play of Bolden. After turning in her first double-double of the season by leading all players in scoring and rebounding with 19 points and 13 boards against McNeese, she came back with a 10-point, 12-rebound game against HBU, once again leading all players in rebounding.
 
"She plays much bigger than her size," Nimz said about the 5-foot-6 graduate transfer. "I hope she doesn't always feel like she has to put the team on her shoulders but when the ball needs scoring, she's willing. She's willing to get it into the paint, to create not just for herself but others and a lot of the time she is looking for somebody else, but when you do that the ball tends to come back to you."
 
She has scored in double figures in three of the past four games and is averaging 13.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in the last three games.
 
Her ability score in bunches was a part of NSU's first-half run in the game a week ago in Lake Charles that erased a double-digit deficit by the end of the second quarter. She scored nine points in the second to help NSU pull within a point in the final seconds.