NATCHITOCHES—While Northwestern State has plenty of players who can put the ball in the basket, the roots of the program are still on the defensive end of the floor.

NSU (13-12, 10-7) went back to its roots, as it went nearly wire-to-wire in a 60-51 victory over East Texas A&M (12-12, 8-8) on Monday evening at Prather Coliseum.

The Demons held the Lions to just 27.7 percent shooting overall and just 3-of-16 from deep, with the three 3-pointers all coming in their final four 3-point attempts after missing their first 12 from deep.

"I am very proud," head coach Anna Nimz said. "I thought they played a phenomenal first half. They played with a lot of poise and executed well and made some easy buckets at the rim. They showed a lot of resiliency and toughness in the third since we got pretty loose with the ball and they got it within seven, but the players didn't show any give-up. It was just a great overall team win."

East Texas A&M made 9-of-19 from deep in the first matchup in Commerce, but struggle from deep on the road, as it now has hit just 27-of-160 from 3-point territory on the road.

The win was a big one for the Demons, as they move into sole possession of fifth place in the Southland Conference standings with five games remaining in the regular season.

It is the first time NSU has won double digit SLC games in back-to-back years since doing it three times in a row from 2013-16.

It is especially important after NSU dropped the first meeting between the two schools in Commerce.

Offensively, Vernell Atamah led the way with 18 points after being saddled with foul trouble for much of the second half. She scored 14 of those 18 in the first half, helping build a 13-point halftime lead.

After one of the worst shooting performances in her career in the last meeting at East Texas A&M, going 3-for-21, she made it known her presence was going to be felt from the opening tip Monday evening.

"My teammates made it a lot easier," Atamah said. "Everybody was helping out. While I was on the bench with foul trouble, I was mad at myself more than usual, but I knew my teammates had my back."

She scored six in the first and followed it up with eight of NSU's 15 points in the second quarter.

Atamah scored eight of the 12 in a 12-2 spurt that pushed the Demons advantage to 30-18, forcing an East Texas A&M timeout.

With the Lions starting four guards, the Demons made a concerted effort to get the ball inside. NSU tied the season low for both made (2) and attempted (13) triples.

From 2-point territory, NSU went 20-of-42.

The 34 points in the paint for the Demons are the most since posting 38 points in the paint in the win at Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 7.

While the Lions just went 8-of-36 (22.2 percent) from the field in the first three quarters, they used the free throw line to their advantage, going 20-of-26, to keep it close and trail just 44-36 after three.

After missing most of the third quarter, Atamah came back and scored on a layup to begin the quarter and Nya Valentine followed with a triple to push the lead to 49-36.

The Lions cut the lead to as little as eight in the fourth before Tiara Abron tallied two of her six baskets on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to 12, salting the game away.

"I was just taking what the defense was giving me," Abron said. "And I was like 'Okay, let's go' and that is what I did."

Fourth quarter Nya is back, as she scored five big points and dished out two assists, after being held scoreless in the win over SLU last time out.

Carla Celaya grabbed 12 rebounds, her eighth game of double digit rebounds this season.

"We don't win without Carla," Nimz said. "A lot of people will look at the points first, but we don't win without a bulldozer player like her."

Tiani Ellison scored 21 points for the Lions but shot 15 field goal attempts and turned the ball over eight times. No other East Texas A&M player scored more than eight.

It sets up a big match Thursday evening in Natchitoches, as the Demons welcome UIW to town with NSU in front of UIW by a single game in the conference standings with the Cardinals having won the first matchup. After that, the Demons wrap up the five-game home stand Saturday afternoon with a game against Houston Christian.