DESTIN, Fla.—Vernell Atamah dropped in 27 points in her first double-double of the season, but Northwestern State's comeback bid fell short in a 77-68 defeat against Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday evening in the final game of the Emerald Coast Classic.

NSU (3-4) cut what was once a 16-point lead down to five at the end of the third quarter, but that was as close as it became in the third-place game of the non-conference tournament.

After failing to score in double figures against Virginia on Monday, Atamah bounced back in a big way, as she put together another strong performance with 27 points and 11 boards, her first double-double of the season and seventh of her career.

"I am disappointed with our first half fight," head coach Anna Nimz said. "But they came out of the locker room at half and played incredibly tough.

"I was happy to see Vernell earn All-Tournament Team. Our gauntlet of a non-conference is all about preparing us for SLC play. We can absolutely build off this trip."

Like the team as a whole, she was held in check to start, but came alive in the third, as she scored 19 of her 27 in the second half to bring the Demons back.

In the third alone, Atamah scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

But a fourth quarter run from PFW (4-3) put the game out of reach.

NSU fell behind early due to hot shooting from the Mastadons and turnovers from the Demons. NSU had six of its 22 miscues in the first quarter, which led to a 24-13 PFW lead after one quarter.

In that first quarter, PFW turned the six turnovers into 12 points, as the Mastadons led the points off turnovers category for the game 25-12.

The turnovers were too much to overcome, despite a 48-31 rebounding edge.

"Turnovers plagued us terribly this week," Nimz said. "When you dominate the boards, you always put yourself in a position to have success. Unfortunately, we just didn't take care of the ball, so we didn't reap the benefits of winning the rebounding war."

Ella Riggs scored eight of her 12 points in the first quarter for the Mastadons to build the 11-point lead.

While Riggs did her damage in the first, Alana Nelson took over in the second and third quarters, scoring 17 of her team-high 25 in the middle two frames.

In the final quarter, the Demons coughed the ball up three times in the first 2:32 and seven times in the fourth to help the Mastadons hold the lead and stretch it after NSU had cut it to five at the end of the third.

Nya Valentine had perhaps her best showing as a Demon, recording 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and just a single turnover. She made two of her four 3-point attempts.

After making just two of her 16 triple tries in her first three games, she has buried 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) in her past four contests.

In her near-36 minutes on the floor, the Demons out-scored PFW by three points.

Carla Celaya earned her second career double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Next up is a break for the Demons before opening up Southland Conference play on the road against reigning regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 7.