NEW ORLEANS—Against Nicholls, Northwestern State put together one of its best defensive performances of the season and aim to keep that going when it travels to New Orleans for the first meeting of the season with the Privateers.

NSU (10-9, 7-4) held Nicholls last time out to 47 points and 31 percent shooting and now aims to take that defensive momentum into its game with UNO (1-19, 1-11) on Saturday.

Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Lakefront Arena. It can be viewed on ESPN+ or fans can listen to it on KZBL 100.7 FM.

This is the first of three consecutive games away from home for the Demons.

"This matchup will be incredibly tough," head coach Anna Nimz said. "UNO is incredibly quick, athletic and tough. Our focus is very much on continuing to grow together and correct our mistakes. This is a very important business trip."

After Thursday's performance, the Demons are third in the Southland in allowing 58.1 points per game in league play and 37.4 percent from the field, which is fifth.

During SLC play, NSU allows teams to shoot just 23.6 percent from deep, which leads the league after holding Nicholls to just 2-of-12 from distance last time out.

One player who is eager to see the Privateers is Vernell Atamah, who had two of the best games in her career against them last season.

In her two contests with UNO as a freshman, Atamah averaged 27.5 points and 10 rebounds on 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from deep. That includes a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds with three steals in the victory at Prather Coliseum.

That performance in Natchitoches last season against UNO earned Atamah her first career SLC Player of the Week award.

Despite playing just 15 minutes due to foul trouble against Nicholls, Atamah scored a team-high 16 points, including some mammoth shots in the final quarter to allow the Demons to come away with the win.

In their last meeting, which also was in New Orleans, the Demons came back from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit to win, as NSU forced five consecutive misses in the final 40 seconds, and Nora Francois missed a jumper as time expired that would have sent the game into overtime in a thrilling 76-74 Demons victory.

Like many other teams in the conference, UNO thrives on balanced scoring, as a pair of players score in double figures and four average from eight to 12 points per game, led by Brialle Washington's 11.9 points per game in league play.

In the two meetings last season, Washington scored an average of 13 points per game, including 18 in the NSU victory in Natchitoches.

One area in which the Privateers excel at is blocking shots, ranking third in blocks per game during league play at 3.58 per game, led by Hailee Brennan's nine. However, five players have recorded at least six blocked shots during SLC play and 10 players have rejected at least one.

Following the game, the Demons head back on the road for two more games, against Lamar on Thursday and East Texas A&M on Feb. 7, before coming back home for five consecutive games, starting with a big matchup against league-leading McNeese on Feb. 12.