LAWRENCE, Kan.—Northwestern State fought back from a 20-point deficit in the second half to cut it to single digits but could not complete the comeback in a 75-60 loss at Kansas on Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

NSU (1-2) found itself trailing 45-25 early in the second half against a Big 12 team that returned much of its scoring from last year, but the Demons fought back on the strength of Vernell Atamah to cut the deficit seven, but a late 13-2 run from the Jayhawks (2-0)  put the game away in the final seven minutes of action.

With the Demons trailing by that 20-point margin, Atamah came alive with 15 of her team-high 19 points during an extended 29-16 run to cut the deficit to 61-54 with 7:35 to play.

The sophomore from Mesquite, Texas, has poured in 64 points so far this season to lead the Southland Conference.

Against Kansas, she only needed seven shots to score the 19 points, making 4-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

Her work in the offseason shooting from behind the arc has paid off, as she has made 52 percent from deep so far (13-of-25).

Like winners do, the Jayhawks had a response, holding NSU without a made field goal from Atamah's basket and foul to cut it to 61-54 all the way until Nya Valentine's jumper with 16 seconds remaining.

In the first half, Atamah drained a 3-pointer less than three minutes into the game to cut the deficit to 7-5, but that was her only basket of the first half, as she was saddled with foul trouble and was limited to 10 minutes in the opening half.

In the first half, when Atamah was out on the floor, NSU only trailed 18-14, but in the minutes she was out, the Demons were out-scored 21-9, as NSU trailed 39-23 at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room strong has been a massive positive through the first three games, as it only lost the third quarter by two at Nebraska and defeated Wichita State by eight in the last game.

The Demons continued that trend, as they scored 21 points in the third period, the most in any one quarter this season, defeating the Jayhawks 21-17 in the third to trim the deficit to 56-44 heading into the final period.

Carla Celaya recorded her first double figure scoring output of the season, dropping 10 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and a career-high-tying four steals.

NSU could not stop the Jayhawks inside the arc, as the home team scored 63 of their 75 points either from the paint or the free throw line. Jaliya Davis and S'Mya Nichols combined to pour in 50 points on 18-of-30 from the field and 14-of-16 from the charity stripe.

Nichol added seven assists and four rebounds as well.

Coming back after the Midwest swing, the Demons now play in front of the Prather Coliseum crowd for a pair, starting with Saturday's home opener against Champion Christian.