HAMMOND – Northwestern State was unable to hold off a late Southeastern surge on Thursday night in a 55-48 loss to the Lady Lions.
For the second straight game Southeastern needed a late rally to pull off a win as the Demons (6-10, 2-3) erased an eight-point half time deficit and held the lead with five minutes to go in the game. The Lions turned to their senior leader Hailey Giaratano, who scored 14 of her game-leading 23 points in the fourth quarter, for enough key moments to turn the Demons away.
"There were a lot of positives that happened throughout the course of the game," head coach
Anna Nimz said. "However, the last two games we have beat ourselves with some decisions down the stretch and not securing the defensive rebounds.
"I believe in this group and know that if we commit to making the corrections we need, they can play with and beat anyone."
The ebbs and flows of stingy defense and efficient offense from both teams fluctuated throughout the game starting from the opening minutes. The Demons turned the ball over three times on their first three possessions, but held the Lions scoreless for the first three minutes of the game.
Sharna Ayres scored NSU's first seven points of the game, hitting an open 3-pointer to start the scoring and then converting on four straight free throws on two consecutive possessions. The Demons only led by a point midway through the period as a pair of Lion triples kept them close.
The Demons did not allow a made field goal inside the 3-point line for the first seven minutes of the game. Six turnovers however in the first 10 minutes prevented them from holding more than a 14-13 edge going into the second.
The Lions first major offensive burst of the game came at the start of the second quarter. SLU went on a 10-2 run out of the gate to take a 23-16 lead four minutes into the quarter. The Demons clamped down over the final four minutes though and held the Lions to just one field goal the rest of the way.
But once again it was the turnover bug that proved too costly with five NSU giveaways during that stretch and just four total field goal attempts as a result. A
Jiselle Woodson jumper with 3:06 left in the half provided NSU's only points over the final five minutes of the second quarter.
After four straight games with 15 or fewer turnovers, NSU had 13 in the first half.
It was the Demons turn to put on an offensive showcase coming out in the third quarter. A quick layup from
Karmelah Dean and a pair of free throws from
Nia Hardison gave the Demons four points within the first minute of the period.
A couple of defensive stops later and another Dean layup later, Ayres drilled her second triple of the game to put NSU back on top 29-28. The 11-0 Demon run, fueled by three Dean shots, flipped the momentum to the Purple and White through the first five minutes of the second half.
There were only eight total points scored over the final five minutes of the third quarter from both teams as the defenses forced four turnovers and six missed shots.
Carla Celaya drilled a 3-pointer from the corner near the end of the period to put the Demons up 34-32 going to the fourth.
NSU took a four-point lead after a back-and-forth start to the final quarter on a pair of Dean free throws and a
Jasmin Dixon layup on a perfect feed through traffic from Woodson. Giaratano answered with two straight buckets to even the score, putting in six of the next seven points overall.
SLU scored on three straight possessions after a game-tying 3-pointer from Dean as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to two possessions with under two minutes to go. A perfect 4-for-4 effort at the line down the stretch allowed the Lions to hold on for their fifth conference victory.
Dean led the Demons with 17 points on the night, going 6-for-11 from the field. Ayres finished with 13 with another three made field goals from beyond the arc.
