NATCHITOCHES—After a pair of shutout victories this past week, Northwestern State not only is on the brink of its second Southland Conference championship in five seasons but also earned a sweep of the SLC weekly awards, the conference announced Tuesday.

The wins over McNeese on Thursday and UIW on Sunday earned Paige Baumgartner (offensive), Jessica Spitzer (defensive) and Kennedy Rist (goalkeeper) weekly awards.

This is the first time NSU has swept the weekly conference awards since 2022 when Olivia Draguicevich, Nicole Henry and Chloe DeShazer won the awards to finish off the regular season.

Baumgartner, a redshirt junior from Rowlett, Texas, scored a goal in each game, including the lone goal in the 1-0 win over UIW.

Her goal against UIW was one of her school-record 12 shot attempts. She has found the back of the net in three straight games and is tied for the lead in the SLC in conference games with four.

While Baumgartner led a strong Demons offense, Spitzer and Rist shut down opposing offenses.

Spitzer led a stingy NSU defense that only surrendered 14 shot attempts in the two games and just six were on frame in a pair of shutouts.

In the triumph over UIW, the senior from Allen, Texas, helped the Demons not surrender a single shot in the final 40 minutes to preserve the one-goal win.

It is Spitzer's second weekly award of her career, also winning one last season.

The defender has helped post nine shutouts in its 17 games, seven of which have come via a solo shutout from Rist, who takes home her fourth SLC Goalkeeper of the Week award.

Rist has been a rock in net for NSU, recording the seven solo shutouts. She stopped six shots this past weekend to post two more shutouts.

When Spitzer's back line allowed a shot, Rist was there to clean it up and not allow anything in the back of the net.

The redshirt junior from Palm Harbor, Fla., has only allowed three goals during league play, leading to a goals against average of a minuscule .382 during Southland games and a save percentage of .893, both of which are the best mark in the conference.

Next up, the Demons try to win their second SLC championship in five years, as a win at Lamar on Thursday does just that. NSU sits four points ahead of second-place Stephen F. Austin with two games left.