NATCHITOCHES—In its second game at home in a month, it was turnovers that loomed large in a hard-fought 64-59 loss to league-leading McNeese on Thursday evening at Prather Coliseum.

NSU (11-12, 8-7) coughed up the ball 20 times, which led to 26 points for McNeese (21-4, 15-1).

The Cowgirls force 23 turnovers a game, so the Demons limited them as much as possible, but McNeese won the points off turnover battle 26-8, which helped push the Cowgirls to their 14^th straight victory.

Four McNeese players recorded at least two steals, as the Cowgirls had 12 overall.

The Demons committed five turnovers in the final quarter, but none were more crushing than back-to-back turnovers late after a basket and foul by Vernell Atamah cut the deficit to 60-56, which was followed by the Demons defense digging deep and forcing a shot clock violation with 1:08 left.

"We had a pretty good run late in the game," head coach Anna Nimz said. "But then we got loose with the ball with a couple unforced turnovers. I am okay with the forced ones against the No. 1 team in steals in the nation. We weren't going to be perfect, and it would be silly to expect that. Primarily, the girls did a good job, and I thought they fought hard."

McNeese made four out of six free throws down the stretch to close out the game.

During McNeese's 14 consecutive wins since losing at home to NSU in December, this five-point win was their closest margin of victory but also won an overtime game at Stephen F. Austin.

Despite the loss, Nimz knows her team can hang with them.

"We know how to compete with them," Nimz said. "We beat them once and this one was neck-and-neck down the stretch. That is important when tackling these next couple games. We have such a great opportunity. We need to bottle up this fight because the girls came ready to play. Kids got into foul trouble, but players on the bench stepped up. The girls showed a lot of fight and toughness, so you can't be mad about that."

Of those points off turnovers, 10 of those for the Cowgirls came in the first quarter, as they used them to vault to a five-point lead after one.

NSU came out strong with an 11-3 run to open the second period, as four players combined for those 11, including four of Clarence Djuela's six points in the game.

The pendulum swung in McNeese's favor to end the quarter, as the Cowgirls went on an 11-2 run to finish the half to go up 29-23 at halftime.

Every time McNeese tried pulling away, NSU came back. The 'never quit' mentality was evident again in the third period, as the Demons erased a seven-point deficit with three straight 3-pointers from Atamah, Tiara Abron and Mika Jarrett to put the Demons in front.

Abron recorded another double-digit performance with 12 points on an efficient 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep.

"Tiara's growth from when she got here to now is just tremendous," Nimz said. "She's an incredible downhill attack kid and she has a great mid-range, but now she is shooting that 3-ball with confidence."

In limited attempts, Jarrett is shooting 40 percent from deep this season.

Overall, the Demons made 9-of-17 from deep, including starting out 7-of-10.

The Cowgirls had an answer for every NSU run, as they closed the third period on a 12-2 run, with all the points coming from Jalencia Pierre and Kaili Chamberlain. Pierre created the final two buckets with her defense after recording steals.

NSU cut the deficit to as few as four in the final quarter but could not find the big shot to cut it to one possession.

Nya Valentine led the Demons with 15 points, despite missing time in the contest with foul trouble. Carla Celaya scored two points and recorded six assists and 10 rebounds.

Arianna Patton scored 15 points to lead the Cowgirls, making 4-of-9 from deep.

The Demons are back in action Saturday, as they continue their five-game home stand with a visit from in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana on Valentine's Day.