NATCHITOCHES—Northwestern State committed 23 turnovers, which was too much to overcome, as the Demons fell 76-71 against visiting Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday afternoon at Prather Coliseum to close out 2025.

NSU (6-6, 3-1) dropped its first Southland Conference contest and first game in front of the home crowd this season.

The Ladyjacks (8-5, 2-2) turned those turnovers into 18 points, including six big ones in the decisive final period, and helped the visitors lead 20-10 in fast break points.

"I think we are a better basketball team than what we showed today," head coach Anna Nimz said. "There were a lot of plays that were made that were really good, but we know we didn't do what we set out to do defensively. We gave up 23 turnovers and 20 fast break points, and it is really hard to win when you do that."

The Demons had a chance to make another comeback, trailing 68-63, but a block by SFA's Cha Gardney thwarted the comeback attempt, as Kaylinn Kemp scored a layup on the other end for the Ladyjacks to improve the advantage to seven and NSU never threatened again.

In the fourth quarter, the Ladyjacks turned a tight game into a road victory with a 15-4 run in a span of 2:40, as the game went from a 52-51 NSU lead to a 66-56 SFA advantage.

All 15 of the points came on five consecutive 3-point trips, starting with Harmanie Dominguez's three free throws after being fouled on an attempt beyond the arc.

That was followed by Kaylinn Kemp's basket and foul, Myka Perry's 3-pointer and 3-point play, followed by a triple from Kemp.

Dominguez, SFA's leading scorer this season, was held to just six points and one made field goal, but Kemp made up for it with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She also added five rebounds, six assists and three steals.

NSU was dominant on the glass, where the Demons collected 22 offensive rebounds, which tied a season high, and a 46-35 overall advantage on the boards, wasn't enough to offset the turnovers and the Ladyjacks 42 points in the paint.

SFA, which came in as one of the most 3-point happy teams in the nation, was held to 14 attempts from deep, which it made four, including two in that big run in the fourth.

The Demons made 9-of-26 from deep, led by Nya Valentine's five made triples. Valentine finished with a team-high 22 points.

NSU jumped off to a nice start in the second quarter after a sluggish start in which it missed its first six field goal attempts.

"I thought we came out of the gate a little flat," Valentine said. "When you come out a little slow, that is never a recipe for success. We need to be better going into our next game at Nicholls."

The Demons led 26-19 in the second after back-to-back triples from Tiara Abron and Valentine, but the Ladyjacks responded with an 11-0 run and 13-2 spurt to end the half and take a 32-28 lead at the break.

Vernell Atamah collected her eighth game of the season with at least 20 points, scoring 21, but attempted 21 shots to score those 21.

After a quiet first half where she scored four points, Atamah came alive in the third, scoring eight of the Demons first 10 points in the period to push NSU in front. Overall, she scored 11 in the quarter.

"Our players came out of halftime well and with energy," Nimz said. "We just went into too many lulls, where maybe we hit back-to-back 3-pointers, but then give up a transition layup on the other end or have a great defensive possession all to miss a block out on the rebound.

"Although I think we did a great job statistically in rebounding, there were too many daggers at the wrong moments that really got us."

Atamah also added eight rebounds for NSU, five of which were offensive.

Kemp was one of four Ladyjacks to reach double figures, as she was joined by Perry (18), Key Roseby (14) and Aziyah Farrier (11).

On the Demons side, in addition to Valentine and Atamah, Abron reached double figures with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.

Clarence Djuela nearly posted her first career double-double with eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds, seven of which were offensive.

Carla Celaya also grabbed seven offensive boards of her 10 total boards.

But the Ladyjacks had a response for every Demons run and took control in the fourth.

"There are a lot of teaching moments from this game," Atamah said. "We need to take care of the ball more and that is one of the keys to our success. We also need to be better on defense. I don't think we were aggressive enough. We need to put our foot on their neck and let them know we're here and I don't think we did that this game."

Next up for the Demons is a trip to Nicholls on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip before coming back home for a pair against UTRGV (Jan. 8) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Jan. 10).