NATCHITOCHES—Northwestern State aims to begin a winning streak when it welcomes Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday in the annual Fork Cancer game.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. The Fork Cancer game is being sponsored by the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center.

NSU (7-7, 4-2) hopes to bounce back following a home loss to UTRGV last time out, one that saw the Demons shoot just 6-of-26 in the second half.

Despite a two-game losing streak, AMCC (2-11, 1-5) has been in both games in the fourth quarter before falling at UTRGV and East Texas A&M.

"Corpus is a really good team," head coach Anna Nimz said. "We've been sitting at the top for two weeks in the conference standings, but it is really tight, so you can go from the top to the bottom with one bad week. The bounce back will have to be tremendous.

"We'll have to commit to correcting what we didn't do well. Corpus is going to bring a lot of toughness and a lot of length. They bring a really different defensive scheme and have a couple really good shooters and a couple really good post players."

Nya Valentine continued a strong stretch of play with 18 points and seven assists.

Vernell Atamah made four more triples, which brought her total to 44 this season, exactly halfway to Beatrice Attura's single-season school record of 88, set in 2016-17.

Not only does she shoot a lot from deep (101 attempts), but she also shoots it well, making 43.6 percent from 3-point range.

Clarence Djuela secured 11 rebounds to go along with three blocks against UTRGV. Five of her rebounds were offensive to bring her total to 45, which leads the league.

The game features two of the three best teams in the Southland Conference in 3-point percentage during league play, as both teams are shooting 35.2 percent from deep.

In the last four games, the Islanders have made at least 40 percent of their 3-point attempts, including making 12-of-25 in the dominant win over New Orleans last month. They don't shoot a ton, not attempting more than 15 in three in the last four contests, but are effective when they do.

On the flip side, NSU has played lock down defense from deep, as the Demons have allowed teams to shoot just 24.4 percent from deep during conference play.

In their past four games, they have been even better, allowing teams to shoot just 12-of-62 (19.4 percent) from 3-point range.

NSU has made at least 40 percent from deep in two of the last four games, including the 7-of-13 outing from 3-point range at Nicholls.

Defensively, AMCC has been strong, allowing teams to shoot just 36.3 percent from the field during conference play, including under 36 percent in each of the past four, including holding Nicholls to just 27.6 percent shooting.

The Demons have a chance to force the Islanders into some miscues, as AMCC is minus-5.33 in turnover margin on the season and just broke a string of 11 consecutive games it turned the ball over more than its opponents. Last time out, AMCC coughed the ball up 11 times against East Texas A&M, compared to 12 by the Lions.

Following the game, the Demons head on the road for three in a row, starting with a trip to Houston Christian on Thursday. The next home game for NSU is against East Texas A&M on Jan. 24.