EDINBURG, Texas—After clinching a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament last time out, it is all about seeding from here on out as the regular season nears its conclusion.

NSU (14-13, 11-8) came from 10 points down in the second half to defeat Houston Christian last game to maintain a share of fifth place in the conference standings.

Now, the Demons turn their attention to UTRGV (17-11, 14-5), which is tied for second place in the Southland standings.

"It's still about inching closer and closer to 40 minutes of focused and intentional game play," head coach Anna Nimz said. "They had a very resilient win Saturday against HCU, showing a lot of resolve and toughness, especially coming out of halftime after a big challenge by our staff.

"To have success down at the Valley, we're absolutely going to have to play for 40 minutes. We're going to really limit Jalayah Ingram and Charlotte O'Keefe, as they are a big time 1-2 punch."

It is an early tip on Thursday, as the game begins at noon at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

It can be viewed on ESPN+ or fans can listen to it on KZBL 100.7 FM.

With three games remaining, NSU is tied with UIW and three games up on East Texas A&M and Nicholls in the conference standings. One win for the Demons clinches at least the No. 6 seed. NSU is also three games behind a cluster of UTRGV, Stephen F. Austin and Lamar for the No. 4 seed and a first round bye.

Vernell Atamah is chasing history in both the 3-point department and the points department. She nailed one triple in the win over HCU, which was a big one in the fourth quarter, which brings her total to 77 this season, just 11 shy of the single season school record of 88 set by Beatrice Attura in 2016-17.

At 946 points, she is also aiming to become one of the fastest players in school history to score 1,000 points and just the 28^th player overall in school history.

The sophomore from Mesquite, Texas, has been able to work her way to the free throw line, as Atamah is 21-of-28 from the charity stripe the last two games, including going 10-of-11 in the win over HCU.

The game with UTRGV pits the two best rebounding teams in the Southland, as NSU has won the rebounding battle by an average of 17 in the last four games, including being a whopping plus-28 in the win over Southeastern Louisiana.

To no one's surprise, the Demons are 3-1 during that stretch.

In those four games, NSU has grabbed 74 offensive rebounds, including 27 against UIW.

The Demons now rank second in offensive rebounds during SLC play with 13.5 per game.

On the other side, the Demons face off against one of the best rebounders in the country in Charlotte O'Keefe.

O'Keefe's 13.9 boards per game are the second-most in the country and the reigning SLC Player of the Week recorded an average of 20.5 points and 18.5 rebounds per game against McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana.

O'Keefe had nine rebounds in the first matchup, a 61-55 Vaqueros win in Natchitoches, as the Demons are just one of three teams in the Southland that has kept her in single digits in rebounds in a game.

UTRGV leads the Southland in rebounding margin during conference games at plus-9.7, while NSU is second at plus-7.5.

In addition to the two best rebounding teams, the game also features the two top scorers in the Southland: Atamah and UTRGV's Jalayah Ingram.

Atamah averages 18.6 points in overall games, while Ingram is second at 16.4.

In the first meeting, Ingram scored 23 points, doing much of her damage at the free throw line, while Atamah scored 16, doing most of her damage from the 3-point line.
Nimz is prepared for a crazy atmosphere for the game.

"It's a kid's game, so they absolutely will rally the valley something fierce," Nimz said. "It's going to be a sold out crowd, without a doubt. Embrace it. Embrace the noise, embrace the challenge, embrace the challenge of trying to go knock off one of the top tier teams in our conference."

Following the game, the Demons head to the island for the final road contest of the regular season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday before finishing up the regular season with a home game against New Orleans on Tuesday.