THIBODAUX—Northwestern State aims to shake off its first Southland Conference loss of the season and start a new winning streak to start 2026, as it heads to Nicholls on Saturday for a match between two of the five teams tied atop the conference standings.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ or listen to the radio on KZBL 100.7 FM.

NSU (6-6, 3-1) tries to rebound from its first loss in league play, a close loss to Stephen F. Austin, a game in which the Demons dominated on the glass by 11 and grabbed 22 offensive boards but couldn't quite overcome the 23 turnovers.

The Demons are first in the conference in both offensive rebounds and rebounding margin during league games.

"Rebounding is always going to be a big part of our program," head coach Anna Nimz said. "You can do a thousand rebounding drills, but if you don't have girls who are tough and play with heart, then you're still not going to be a good rebounding team."

The dynamic duo for NSU of Vernell Atamah and Nya Valentine each is averaging more than 15 points per game in league play. They are two of the top seven scorers during SLC action.

Each player scored at least 20 points last time out against SFA, the first time a Demons tandem has done that this season and the first time it has occurred since Mya Blake (31) and Atamah (26) did so this past February at New Orleans.

It will be a battle, as the Demons are facing a tremendous defense that has allowed teams to shoot just 34.5 percent against it during conference action.

While Nicholls does virtually everything well, teams do shoot 33.1 percent from deep, which is 11th in the league.

Valentine has made 14 shots from deep in her last three SLC games, and figures to be a major factor once again.

Nicholls has won three in a row after a close home defeat to UIW to open SLC play.

Last time out, the Colonels jumped out to a huge lead on the road against UTRGV and coasted to a 66-56 victory in a game that the score doesn't tell how much of a dominant performance it was by Nicholls.

The Colonels have been one of the top offenses and defenses in the Southland this season, ranking in the top three in both points per game and points allowed per contest.

"Nicholls is a really tough team," Nimz said. "I think they do a really good job of causing chaos. No matter what the score is, they are going to fight for 40 minutes and that is one of their biggest assets you can have in a program.

"They have a lot of skilled players, big-bodied players and a lot of strong players. For us, we are going to have to put out hard hat on going on the road and take care of the ball."

Like many of the other top teams in the Southland, Nicholls relies on balanced scoring, as five players average between 8.9 and 13 points per game, led by Tanita Swift's 13.

While they are one of the best offensive teams in the conference, the Colonels don't utilize the 3-point shot as much as the Demons, as Nicholls makes just 4.4 3-pointers per game.

Following the game, the Demons come back home for a pair of games, starting with a visit from UTRGV on Thursday before finishing the weekend by hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 10.