NATCHITOCHES—A difficult non-conference schedule has strengthened Northwestern State, as it prepares for the remainder of Southland Conference play.

NSU (5-5, 2-0) is using its lessons learned during that tough slate, as it returns to SLC play, starting with a visit from Lamar (5-4, 2-0) on Sunday in the Demons first home game in exactly a month and first league home game overall this season.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. at Prather Coliseum.

During the non-conference schedule, NSU played four power conference teams,  as well as a Purdue Fort Wayne team that is 8-4 and receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25.

Now it is all SLC play from here on out, as NSU is off to its first 2-0 start in league play in a decade.

The Demons and Lamar are two of the conference's three 2-0 teams.

NSU is one of two teams that won both games away from home, having knocked off Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese to begin conference play.

"(Lamar Head) Coach Aqua (Franklin) does a phenomenal job," head coach Anna Nimz said. "She has a lot of talent and a lot of kids who buy into what she is doing and what she wants for her program. They have a lot of grit and have the ability to face-guard you at 94 feet and try to create chaos.

"We just played arguably one of the best defensive teams in the Southland with McNeese and took on quite literally the best defensive team in the nation in Texas and still put points on the board. Those two games were great lead-ups to playing another very high-intense, pressure defense."

Clarence Djuela, a sophomore from Berlin, has turned a corner in the past four games, which includes the two SLC wins.

After averaging 4.3 points per game in her first six, Djuela has averaged 9.3 points the last four games on 68.2 percent shooting. She also has been making her way to the free throw line, attempting 11 in the last four after just four attempts from the charity stripe in her first six games.

She is going to play a huge role on the glass, as the Cardinals are the top team in the Southland in offensive rebounds in all games, hauling down 15.3 of their own misses per game. NSU is not too fat behind in third place with 12.9 offensive rebounds per game.

NSU is 4-1 when out-rebounding its opponent this season and 1-4 when it doesn't.

With a pair of made 3-pointers at Texas, Vernell Atamah has made 31 triples this season, already matching the output from her entire freshman season. This year, it took her 26 fewer attempts to make those 31 3-pointers.

Her 40.3 percent from deep has helped the Demons lead the conference in 3-point percentage.

Atamah has been the leading scorer for NSU in nine of its 10 games this season and leads the SLC in points in overall games at 20.2 points per game and tied for first in SLC games at 21 per contest.

Nya Valentine has made six 3-pointers in her last two games, including five in the win at McNeese. Her five assists per game during league play are tied for fourth with a pair of players—Jacei Denley and R'Mani Taylor—who she'll compete against Sunday.

Lamar is led by a strong trio of guards, including leading scorer Shaila Forman, who averages 12.1 points per game while coming off the bench.

Forman and Denley are effective 3-point shooters, combining to make 20-of-47 from deep.

The Cardinals top three scorers are guards, leading Lamar to a 2-0 start, defeating UTRGV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at home by an average of 18 points per game.

NSU has won its first two games in league play by an average of 12 per contest.

Following the contest, the Demons welcome rival Stephen F. Austin to Natchitoches for a New Year's Eve tilt before starting 2026 with a trip to Nicholls on Jan. 3.