COMMERCE, Texas – The only thing that is truly on the line as Northwestern State enters the final regular season game of the year is momentum.
 
The Demons (11-17, 7-10) are one of four teams with identical 7-10 conference marks going into the final game of the season that have all also clinched spots in the tournament. All four teams will play on the first day of the tournament on Monday in Lake Charles at McNeese's Legacy Center. The only thing left to be determined is the final seedings and the matchups for those opening-round games.
 
For head coach Anna Nimz, the advanced math degree required to solve the potential seeding scenarios is the last thing on her mind when NSU faces Texas A&M-Commerce in Wednesday's finale at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
"At the end of the day it's our final game and you want to get that one," she said. "We know road wins are hard to come but very important. It's an opportunity to get a sweep against a good team and we're not looking past Wednesday. Whatever it means for the following Monday out mindset is 100 percent today."
 
Of the eight different scenarios that can play out over the final day of the regular season only one has the Demons grabbing the No. 5 seed in the tournament. An NSU win on Wednesday combined with losses by both New Orleans and Nicholls would slot the Demons in at No. 5 in the bracket.
 
But regardless of the outcome of any of three games that would affect the final seedings, NSU will take on either Nicholls, New Orleans or Commerce on Monday in Lake Charles.
 
The Demons needed some late-game defensive moxie to pull out a 69-66 win against the Lions in the first meeting a month ago. NSU had as much as an 18-point lead in the third quarter after a dominant first half that saw them take a 43-30 lead into the break.
 
Behind a career performance from the Lions' Jordyn Newsome who scored 17 of her career-high 27 points in the span of seven minutes in the third, Commerce tied the game at 62 with more than six minutes to go in the game.
 
The Demons held the Lions to just four points over the final 6:37 of the game to come away with the victory.
 
"We want to take care of ourselves and the things that we can control," Nimz said. "Get to that 40-minute mark of really good, really focuses basketball. We were up on them in the second half of our last game and almost let it slip away. That kind of stuff can't happen. One of our new goals is 'no relax.' That's one of those things that you've seen us do that we have to get corrected on us."
 
 
They will look for a less dramatic finish to the game on Wednesday hoping that the injection of starting point guard Jiselle Woodson back into the lineup will allow for a more comfortable end to the game. 
 
The first meeting with the Lions was the first of five missed games by the senior following a hand injury against Nicholls two days prior. Woodson returned to full action this past week recording her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in this past Thursday's win against the Colonels. She added seven points and five assist in the game against Lamar.
 
"She brings more than just the points and assists and all that us," Nimz said. "She brings a lot of confidence to the team. But it's a big time hats off to them for how they performed before that stretch at the end without her on the floor. 
 
"When you lose your starting point guard, that's different than losing your starting three player. Everybody made some shuffles and that first go around with Commerce the entire team did an awesome job of stepping up and filling that void. So, adding Jelly into the mix with that should just be an added bonus for us this time."