BATON ROUGE – Behind a gritty, tough, defensive-fueled effort, Northwestern State picked up a hard-earned road win against defending SWAC champion Southern on Sunday afternoon 46-35.
The Demons (3-4) held the Jaguars to a season low 35 points and 24 percent shooting effort from the field, lower than in all of their previous five games against Power 5 opponents.
"We had some moments where we didn't quite have composure but what they did was if it was going bad on one end of the court, they backed it up on the defensive end," head coach
Anna Nimz said. "They stayed incredibly locked into their scout. It wasn't perfect, but the grit and the toughness and how they flew around made such an impact. They played with toughness for 40 minutes but when you can do that and play together as an entire team effort it's really exciting to see."
NSU set the defensive tone from the opening tip holding the Jaguars scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the game. A layup at the 5:10 mark fell throw after the Demons' had a three-ball from
Jiselle Woodson and a pair of free throws from
Karmelah Dean already to their total.
The low-scoring quarter ended with five straight points from Woodson in the final minute of the period with her picking up a pair of free throws and knocking down a side-step 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give NSU the 12-6 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Fighting through close calls that didn't go their way through the first half of the second quarter, the Demons clung to their lead before sprinting ahead with a late 7-0 scoring burst and field goals on four straight possessions.
Dean found a cutting
Jasmin Dixon on a perfectly placed pass to open the run, before hitting her only 3 of the game on her only attempt, then after grabbing a defensive rebound set the Demons up for a Woodson jumper to stretch the lead to 21-12.
Jenny Ntambwe scored her lone first-half bucket on the next trip down to answer Southern's only made field goal of the final five minutes of the half to take the 23-15 lead into the break.
Like they did to start the game, the Demons held Southern scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half, but missed their chances to extend the lead during that time. Both team began 1-for-9 from the field in the second half.
The team's combined for six made field goals in the quarter and the Demons were only able to stretch their lead by a point thanks to two late free throws from
Sharna Ayres, her only two points of the night.
NSU held Southern to single-digit scoring totals in each of the first three quarters of the game.
Southern scored five quick points in the first 40 seconds of the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to two possessions at 31-27 thanks to a ratcheted up full court pressure defense.
NSU, led by Woodson's efforts on and off the ball, handled that pressure well after that point allowing for a close-out effort to pick up their first road win of the season.
Woodson worked her way to the free throw line three times in the quarter, scored seven of her game-high 17 points and had a steal and an assist. Her helper came on the second of two straight layups by Ntambwe that gave the Demons a 40-29 lead as part of a larger 8-0 run with 3:15 left in the game.
"I think the best way that I can describe her right now is relentless," Nimz said of Woodson's play. "Even if something didn't go right she's making the adjustment. I've seen just such tremendous growth in her and how she impacts the other players as well. She's being a leader on the court and just hats off to her."
Ntambwe added one more bucket with 1:27 to go to seal the victory and push her into double-digits on the night with 10 points.
NSU also outrebounded Southern 45-33 in the game, their third straight game with more rebounds than their opponent.
