NATCHITOCHES – After taking two of three on the road Northwestern State returns home on Saturday to face one of the top teams and players in the Southland Conference.
 
The defensive calibrated Demons (8-10, 4-3) return to Prather Coliseum for the first of four home games out of five to take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-5, 6-1), winners of four straight, in the first game of an NSU doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
NSU is coming off back-to-back near spotless defensive performances to win two of three games on the first of two three-game conference road trips this season. They bring the confidence that goes with that back home to a place they are 15-6 across the past two seasons.
 
"Any time you're on the road it's a grind and always feels longer than maybe what it actually is," head coach Anna Nimz said. "But coming back to Prather and being in front of our fans is always such a benefit to us. Our girls really thrive here. They love the band, the cheerleaders all the spirit quads and the entire support cast that NSU provides. It creates a great environment, and they have a lot of fun with it."
 
The Demons were a minute away from history last time they took the floor by nearly holding a conference opponent below 40 points for the first time in history. While the single game record wasn't broken, the 44 points allowed to the Cowgirls is tied for the eighth fewest in a Southland game, on the heels of the 43-point defensive performance that is tied for fourth fewest.
 
It is the first time that NSU has held two straight conference opponents to fewer than 45 points in a game and just the third time doing in multiple times in a since, the first in 20 years. The prowess has vaulted the Demons to the second-best scoring defense in the conference at 56.1 points per game and the third best field goal defense at .353.
 
As it has time and time again, the exceptional play without the ball has impacted play with it on the other end of the floor.
 
The Demons rank second in the Southland in team shooting at .418 and lead the league with a .351 effort from beyond the arc. The balance from the perimeter and around the basket have been paying more and more dividends over the past seven games.
 
"There was some inside presence there was some outside presence, they shared the ball well and overall we executed," Nimz said about the win at McNeese. "We've still got to clean up those turnovers because a lot of them were unforced. It's about correcting ourselves and continuing to build and grow what we need to do and get better."
 
A big part of the success on both ends of the floor has been the play of guards Karmelah Dean and Jiselle Woodson. Both have provided offense in terms of points and created it with their facilitation of the offense, all while providing stingy defense against some of the league's top threats.
 
After two injury-laden seasons, Dean has seen the most action of her NSU career this year and the product on the court is a direct reflection of that. She has had three or more assists in four of the past five games, including a career-high eight at UNO, and is the second leading scorer on the team in conference at 11.3 points.
 
"Consistency just in playing has been the biggest thing for her," Nimz said. "She hasn't been able to play a conference season since she's been here going on year three and this is the first time she's been able to do it. You can see her game continue to grow because of it. She's a big asset on the defensive end, typically guarding the other team's best players. But then she backs that up with what she does on offense. Almost had a double-double with eight assists against UNO and becoming consistent around the 3-point line. You're really starting to see the Karmelah Dean that we recruited."
 
Woodson and Dean are the best pair of teammates in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, both with 1.0 or higher totals on the season. They are each scoring 10 points a game with three or more assists a night against SLC opponents.
 
While neither of them will be matched up defensively with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's go-to player, Alecia Westbrook, their presence around the supporting cast will be instrumental in a good game for the Demons.
 
Westbrook has been one of the best players in the conference for the past five years. She is the reigning conference player of the year, a two-time defensive player of the year and in many ways is the cornerstone of the Corpus success on both sides of the floor.
 
On the season she leads the team in scoring (11.6), rebounding (8.2), assists (2.5) and steals (2.0). She earned her third double-double in five games on Thursday night at Texas A&M-Commerce and has had a doble-double in three straight games against NSU.
 
Her rebounding ability has Corpus atop the conference at 44.3 boards per game, with a 13.4 average on the offensive glass. They have won four straight games entering Saturday and 10 of their last 11 with the only loss coming on the road by three points at Southeastern.