HAMMOND – Northwestern State begins the first of two three-game conference road swings on Thursday with the defending Southland champions.
 
The Demons (6-8, 2-2) will spend the next three game facing three of the other four Louisiana-based Southland schools starting with a trip to Southeastern on Thursday night at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
The Lions (8-7, 4-0) engineered a come-from-behind win at McNeese this past Saturday to remain unbeaten in conference play through the first two weekends. It is their second 4-0 start to league play in the past three seasons.
 
NSU saw its double-digit lead slowly slip away in the game against UIW as rebounding and sending the Cardinals to the free throw line led to a frustrating loss preventing the Demons from their first 3-1 start to conference since 2015-16.
 
As they move into this road trip and specifically the next two games, at SLU and New Orleans, they do so expecting a much different approach from their opponents.
 
"UIW plays a much different style of basketball than the two teams we'll see this weekend," head coach Anna Nimz said. "They do a lot of cutting and screening whereas Southeastern and New Orleans are going to hit you first. They set hard screens and connect on you, so we have to be ready for that kind of physicality for the entire game."
 
That kind of physicality will test the Demons and their recent improvements with ball security, especially as the game goes progresses into the fourth quarter.
 
NSU extended its streak of consecutive games with 15 or fewer turnovers to four on Saturday, committing just 10 against the Cardinals. It is the second longest such streak since the 2015-16 season. NSU is averaging 12.5 turnovers per game in conference play, the second lowest average in the conference.
 
Jiselle Woodson has just five turnovers, while averaging 30 minutes per game, in SLC play and not player has more than 10 turnovers total in the past four games.
 
That trend will be tested this weekend against an in-your-face Lion team and aggressive Privateer squard that is forcing 18.5 and 19.3 turnovers per game in conference respectively on the season. They ranked first and second in that category through the first four games.
 
Current Southland Player of the Week, Southeastern's Jalencia Pierre, is big part of SLU's turnover prowess with her relentless man-to-man pressure. The sophomore has added a more consistent offensive presence of late to make her an even bigger impact player.
 
It was her 3-pointers with four seconds left against McNeese that sent the game to overtime. She scored a career-high 21 points in the game and has scored in double figures in four of the past five games with three or more assists in each of those games.
 
She helped guide SLU back from a 25-7 deficit after the first quarter where the Lions outscored McNeese 70-38 the rest of the game including a 35-10 run from the mid-point of the fourth quarter to the end of the game.
 
They did not miss a single shot attempt in the five minute overtime period going 7-for-7 from the field to run away with the victory.