SAN ANTONIO—A confident Northwestern State women's basketball team begins Southland Conference play when it hits the road to battle UIW on Friday at the McDermott Center.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN+.

The Demons (3-4) are fresh off a 10-day break after an 80-45 home victory over Southern-New Orleans.

Prior to that, the Demons recorded a number of positives, even in dropping three in the state of Texas.

"By the time January hits, you've got the kinks figured out and you've got your rotation figured out a little bit more," head coach Anna Nimz said. "Playing earlier, maybe you're still finding those rotations. With our Texas swing and back-to-back games, that should propel us forward. Even though we lost all three, we got better each game. They had back-to-back 1 o'clock games, so I think they are ready for the challenge.

"Our lineup is pretty much set and out bench is coming up and contributing. I like opening conference play early. I didn't know if I would, but this is a good challenge and will help us measure up really quick."

While Northwestern State won by 35 against SUNO, head coach Anna Nimz knows there is a lot to clean up when it starts league play Friday.

While UIW (3-4) won both matchups last season, both games came down to the final minutes. The Cardinals won the games by an average of seven points per game, but Northwestern State entered the fourth quarter in both games with the lead.

Northwestern State relies on the 3-point shot, as 46.3 percent of its shots have come from deep, making 32.2 percent of its 3-point shots.

Even with a 9-for-27 outing last time out, the Demons are shooting 36.4 percent as a team from deep in the past five games.

Three of the Demons who have made double digit 3-pointers—Mya Blake, Zhane Thompson and Vernell Atamah—are shooting at least 37 percent from deep.

"We're (Zhane, Sharna, Mya) are all goofy," Thompson said. "We feed the hot hand. We piggy back off each other, making sure we are finding the one who is hitting and we all play off each other really well.

"It helps us having three shooters on the court. They can't overplay one of us, they have to guard all of us and that opens up Vee (Atamah) in the post or Jas (Dixon) for her hook shots. It contributes to all of us and we all have different roles on the team and I think us being able to score at all three levels really helps our offense."

The four players with double digit 3-pointers made already matches Northwestern State's total from a year ago.

Blake, the leader in triples with 18, is shooting 41.9 percent from deep on the season and 48.5 percent in the past five games, which includes a 1-for-7 outing at Texas A&M.

While Nimz was not pleased with the number of turnovers in the last outing, her team has been equally good at forcing turnovers.

"I think we had a pretty tough day following that matchup against Southern-New Orleans," Nimz said. "We were able to watch film and see that we had 20 unforced turnovers as opposed to just one forced. That won't help us win too many ball games.

"It is just being disciplined in our action and taking care of the ball because every possession really matters. I have seen a change in their play in practice the past few days, so I am happy with that and we'll have to continue to coach and harp on throughout the season."

Defensively, Northwestern State is near the top of the SLC in both steals and blocks.

The Demons are second in total blocks and blocks per game in the conference, while also fourth in both total steals and steals per game.

Led by Jasmin Dixon's nine blocks, the Demons have swatted 33 shots. Her 111 career blocks are two behind Katrina Swanigan for sixth in program history.

Nine players have at least one block, with six recording at least three. Freshman Clarence Djuela has blocked seven shots to place second on the team.

Blake has recorded 17 steals, posting five games with at least three steals, including three each against Tarleton and Texas A&M.

The Demons take another week-long break before returning to non-conference play for the rest of the month, welcoming former SLC rival Central Arkansas to Natchitoches for the final non-conference home contest.