COMMERCE, Texas—Few players in America have been playing as well recently than Mya Blake.

She has posted two games of at least 30 points in the last three, including 31 last time out, leading her team to a win over UTRGV on Thursday.

Blake now leads Northwestern State (9-10, 6-4) as it aims for a second consecutive win, facing East Texas A&M (4-15, 1-9), which begins a three-game road trip for the Demons.

Tip-off is at noon at the East Texas A&M Field House.

In her last three games, Blake has averaged 31 points per game, along with 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest.

The last time a Demon had multiple 30-point games in a season was Kira Bonner in 2019-20.

During SLC play, she is far and away the leading scorer in the conference. Her 19.7 is more than three and a half points better than teammate Vernell Atamah (16.1), who is in second.

She averages 17 points per game overall, which ranks tied 82^nd overall, and is one of just two players at 5-5 or shorter to rank in the top 100 nationally in scoring.

Along with scoring 20 in the win over UTRGV, Sharna Ayres buried four 3-pointers, moving her into sixth in program history for career made triples with 138. She now is just five made 3-pointers behind Beatrice Attura for fifth.

"It starts in practice," Ayres said. "Everyone has to come in and work hard, all 16 of us. We'll need to pay attention to our scout and make sure we're locked in for the rest of the week, leading up to these three road games."

The defense remains strong for the Demons, as they held UTRGV to 35.8 shooting from the field. The nation's best 3-point defense, Northwesterm State limited the Vaqueros to just 21.4 percent shooting from deep.

Even after UTRGV cut it the deficit to four points late, Northwestern State forced three consecutive empty possessions to lock down the victory for the Demons.

Northwestern State has its hands full with East Texas A&M's 3-point shooting, as the Lions have made 5.9 3-pointers during SLC play, which is fourth in the conference, right behind Northwestern State.

On four occasions, the Lions have made double digit 3-pointers, including a season-high 14 against Seattle on Nov. 29.

Cora Horvath drained five 3-pointers and scored 17 points total in Thursday's loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Lions have a 1-2 punch on offense with Jordyn Newsome and Jasmine Payne, both in the top 15 in scoring in SLC games.

Newsome averages 13.3 points per game to rank ninth in the SLC in scoring during league games, while Payne's 12.0 points per game is 14^th.

Despite the seven-game losing streak, the Lions have proven they are a dangerous team, as evidenced by their victory over Nicholls, which is 7-4 in league play and sit at third in the league.

Following the game, the Demons finish the road trip with in-state visits to Nicholls and McNeese. They return home to Prather Coliseum on Feb. 13 when they welcome Lamar to Natchitoches.