BATON ROUGE – Northwestern State shot with No. 7 ranked LSU through the first 10 minutes of the game, but eventually succumbed to the size, speed and skill of the Tigers in a 95-36 loss on Friday night.

"Tonight was a tough game," head coach Anna Nimz said. "There were absolutely positive moments. I thought plenty of players gave solid effort. We just need to continue to work on our poise offensively and overall intensity. We are young and we have a lot of new faces. I believe wholeheartedly in this group, but patience throughout the non-conference will be key."
 
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the game. The Tiger saw a mid-range jumper fall from Anessah Morrow after the opening tip and the Demons had a response 12 seconds later on a bounce pass from Vernell Atamah to Jasmin Dixon for the easy lay in.
 
The Tigers, led by a sixth straight 20-point performance dating back to last season from guard Flau'jae Johnson, jumped ahead with a 5-for-6 start from the field. A 3-pointer from Zhane Thompson cut into the early Tiger lead and signaled the start of a hot quarter from beyond the arc for the Demons that kept them within striking distance of one of the best teams in the country.
 
The Demons went 4-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first quarter with Thompson hitting a pair, and Mya Blake and Sharna Ayres each hitting one as well.
 
Thompson and Blake converted from deep on back-to-back possessions at the end of the first quarter. Blake tracked down an offensive rebound from her own miss and found an open Thompson with 48 second left. 
 
The Demons forced a turnover on the ensuing Tiger possession setting up Blake's near quarter buzzer beater to rip the net giving NSU the final six points of the quarter and closing out the final 2:35 of the period without allowing a point defensively.
 
Vernell Atamah drilled a triple three minutes into the second quarter, the second of two straight made field goals for the freshman on feeds from Blake. Atamah finished with a team-best nine points and seven rebounds while Blake had four of NSU's seven assists in the game.
 
Following Atamah's trey, the Tiger length, speed and scoring ability took over control of the game and never relented. LSU forced the Demons into nine turnovers over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half and went 9-for-18 from the field the rest of the quarter ballooning their lead to 53-22 heading into the break.
 
The stretch including a run of five straight made field goals for the Tigers near the three minute mark of the quarter.
 
The Tigers suffocating defense persisted throughout most of the second half, keeping the Demons from establishing consistency with their offensive possessions. The Demons were forced into shots from beyond the arc, that will no doubt be a strength for them during the season, but we unable to get one to fall during the entirety of the second half on 17 total attempts.
 
Northwestern was able to break through the Tiger defense on a handful of instances with quality ball movement. Nia Hardison hit an open baseline jumper during the third quarter after seeing the ball go through all five players on the court before her shot.
 
Clarence Djuela laid in the final shot of the game after getting a perfect bounce pass from Skye Miller as time expired.
 
The Demons had assists on more than 60 percent of their made field goals for the second time in two games this season.
 
Atamah finished with nine points and seven rebounds to lead the Demons in both categories. Jasmin Dixon had five points, five rebounds and added two more blocks, giving her two in each of the first two games of the season.
 
NSU returns home to Prather Coliseum on Tuesday night when they take on Arkansas Baptist at 6:30 p.m.