BEAUMONT, Texas—Northwestern State suffered a cold shooting fourth quarter, as it saw a slim lead at the end of three quarters evaporate in a 54-45 defeat at Lamar on Thursday evening at Neches Arena.

NSU (11-10, 8-5) did many talking points well through three quarters, including limiting turnovers and Lamar offensive rebounds. However, the Demons could not overcome a 1-for-13 shooting performance in the final period, as well as seven turnovers, in the loss at Lamar (14-7, 11-3).

"We led for 29 minutes of the game but did not guard our yard and value the ball in the fourth," head coach Anna Nimz said. "It is very unfortunate. We must BELIEVE in one another a bit more. I felt that we tried to force something to create a 5-point possession vs. playing through one another and taking what the defense gave us like they did so well for 29 minutes.

"We had such great composure with the ball in first half and then played less confident somehow in the second. It is definitely upsetting and I hate it for the girls."

The Demons went 13:59 without a field goal in the second half after a Vernell Atamah steal and layup put the Demons in front 39-34 and they didn't score again until Atamah's bucket with 47 seconds left to cut the deficit to 52-43.

After holding Lamar to 9-of-26 from the field in the first half, the Cardinals went 11-for-24 in the second half, including 2-for-5 from deep.

NSU held a 30-25 lead after the first half, as the Demons shot 12-of-27 from the field. In the second, one of the best defenses in the Southland Conference stepped up in a big way.

The Cardinals held the Demons to just 4-of-25 from the field in the second half, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range.

One game after one of its best performances from downtown, the Demons made two 3-pointers in 18 attempts, their fewest made triples in a game this season.

Overall, NSU shot 30.8 percent from the field for the game.

One of the biggest points of emphasis for the Demons has been turnovers. After turning the ball over 17 times in the first meeting, NSU was taking care of the ball in the first half with just six miscues. But then Lamar forced NSU to cough it up 14 times in the second half, leading to 12 points for the Cardinals.

"We have to continue to grow and learn to value the ball more," Nimz said. "I need to find a way to help them through this turnover battle."

In the first half, NSU played one of its better halves of the season, as LU was held to 34.6 percent from the field. The Cardinals are the best team in the Southland in 3-point percentage and offensive rebounding, but NSU held LU to 2-for-6 from deep and to just three offensive rebounds.

LU scored the first four points of the second half, which set the tone for second half. NSU held off the charges by the Cardinals until the dam broke in the fourth quarter.

Atamah finished with a team-high 16 points and Tiara Abron chipped in 14 points for the Demons.

NSU post player Clarence Djuela grabbed 11 rebounds, her fourth double digit rebounding effort of the season.

Lamar's Jacei Denley, who missed the first game between the two schools, scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 2-for-3 from deep.

The Demons have one more game on the road on this road trip, a visit to East Texas A&M on Saturday, before NSU comes back home for five consecutive games at Prather Coliseum, starting with a contest against league-leading McNeese on Feb. 12.

"This team is special," Nimz said. "We just have to trust the process and look forward to a big battle on Saturday."