NATCHITOCHES—Don't ever count Northwestern State out.

Trailing 53-44 at the final media timeout and staring its first Southland Conference defeat in the face, NSU (6-5, 3-0) re-grouped and scored 16 of the game's final 20 points to capture a come-from-behind 60-57 victory over visiting Lamar (5-5, 2-1) in a matchup of conference unbeatens on Sunday at Prather Coliseum.

"Wow," head coach Anna Nimz said. "We started out hot, but then we got into foul trouble. But we were down nine with a little over four to go and there was no give-up. There was no resolve and there was some true belief we were going to come back. Nobody counted us out, at least in our huddle. It was good composure by the girls; I just wanted to recognize that."

It is the first 3-0 start in league play for the Demons since 2014-15 when they started the SLC season at 5-0.

A 3-pointer from Lamar's KJ Walker with 4:48 left in the game gave the Cardinals the nine-point lead. At the time, the Demons had scored no points in the quarter and were 0-of-8 from the field.

From there, the trio of Vernell Atamah, Nya Valentine and Carla Celaya took over. Celaya started and ended the rally with a pair of free throws to break the drought in the fourth and ended it on a defensive stop with a second to go.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Atamah and Valentine tied the score at 54, forcing a Lamar timeout with 1:48 left.

Following a bucket from Solenne Olenga to give the Cardinals the lead 56-54, the Demons duo struck again. Valentine found Atamah, who was cramping much of the fourth quarter, on a backdoor pass for a basket and foul.

"I was cramping a lot, and I know my team was giving their all," Atamah said. "It was just about focusing in and knowing my team needs me. We were holding on and I was trying to do what I could to extend our lead and make sure we came away with a dub."

Valentine, a graduate transfer from Mobile, Ala., had five assists with no turnovers to go along with a game-high 20 points. She made four 3-pointers after draining a career-high five in the victory at McNeese.

"I never lost faith," Valentine said. "I believe in this group, and I just knew if we stuck through it and trusted the process, we were going to ultimately win."

With the game tied at 57 with 54 seconds left, Valentine calmly swished a pair of free throws for a lead NSU never relinquished the rest of the way.

Celaya started the rally, so it made sense for her to end it, as she locked up Shaila Forman on a drive and Forman, who scored 11 points, but she stumbled and lost the ball out of bounds with a second to play.

"On that last possession, I was just like 'Just let me lock in," Celaya said. "I knew if we got one stop, we win. I locked in and did what coach needed me to do, and we won."

The Demons finished in grand fashion, but their start was just what Nimz wanted as well, as the home team scored the first seven points of the game and jumped out to an 11-4 lead, thanks to four points each from Tiara Abron and Clarence Djuela.

However, the Cardinals responded by making their way to the free throw line, going 9-of-11 in the first period from the charity stripe to build a 20-15 lead at the end of the first.

For the game, Lamar was 21-of-27 at the free throw line.

Atamah's free throw after the inbounds put the bow on the win.

NSU went just 4-of-10 from the charity strip in the first three quarters but went 6-of-7 in the fourth.

Lamar tried putting distance in between itself and NSU on multiple occasions, but the Demons always had an answer.

A 10-3 second quarter run by the Cardinals pushed the score to 34-24 before a 3-pointer by Atamah and a pair of free throws by Valentine cut the deficit to five at halftime.

Overall for the game, the Demons made 8-of-20 from deep and held Lamar to just 2-of-12 in that area.

R'Mani Taylor scored 16 points to lead the visitors, as she went 7-of-16 from the field. NSU put the clamps on the surrounding cast, holding the rest of the team to just 10-of-35 shooting.

Each team forced 17 turnovers, but NSU scored 24 points off Lamar's turnovers, compared to just 15 points off turnovers for the Cardinals.

Going in, Lamar averaged better than 15 offensive rebounds per game, but NSU held the Cardinals to just eight.

"Going into games, we always have game keys and keeping them off the offensive glass was our biggest priority," Celaya said. "We needed to lock in and keep them from getting second chances."

The Demons are back in action after Christmas with another big game against another perennial SLC power, hosting Stephen F. Austin on New Year's Eve to round out 2025.