LAKE CHARLES—After a sluggish first half, Northwestern State came alive in the second half to turn a nine-point deficit into a 69-56 victory over East Texas A&M in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament at Townsley Law Arena.

"We were resilient," head coach Anna Nimz said. "In the second half compared to the first, we defended and rebounded. We challenged them at half because we got into some foul trouble in the first half because we didn't necessarily guard intelligently. Coming out of half, I think they did a nice job of that. The bench production came out and were big, keeping us in the game and cutting it to nine at halftime. It was a collective team effort."

NSU (18-13) used a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter and extended 32-10 run to overtake and pull away from the Lions (13-17), thanks to Vernell Atamah.

After being saddled with foul trouble in the first half, the SLC Player of the Year scored 14 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter.

She also made history in the process, as her triple to break a 45-45 deadlock gave her the single-season 3-point record. That 3-pointer also broke the school record for made triples in a season.

"I knew that whenever I was to go back in, I had to give it my all," Atamah said. "Going into the fourth quarter, there was no promised game after this one, so I knew I had to give it my all in that fourth quarter and that is what I did."

It is no secret that the Demons thrive off the 3-point shot. In the first three quarters, NSU went 1-for-14. In the fourth, it was a whole different story, as the Demons made their first three triples and buried four in the final period.

Down by three early in the fourth, Atamah scored on a basket and foul before her record-breaking 3-pointer. Carla Celaya had a steal and layup to put the Demons on top 50-45, forcing an East Texas A&M timeout.

That was followed by another Celaya layup, a layup from Tiara Abron and another 3-pointer from Atamah and NSU was off and running with a 57-45 lead.

The lead never was under nine the rest of the way.

In the final period, Nya Valentine had another strong fourth, scoring five points and dishing out two assists.

In a fitting ending to the game, NSU recorded three consecutive offensive rebounds late to salt away the win.

The Demons dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Lions 53-26. NSU has out-rebounded its last nine opponents, with seven of the last eight by double digits.

It is the second time this season that the Demons have been at least a plus-25 on the glass, out-rebounding Southeastern Louisiana by 28 last month.

"Coach Ailshie talked about it in the locker room before we even took off for Lake Charles that this is our identity, Nimz said. "It's who we are. We shoot a lot of 3s, but if you let it fly from the perimeter like we do, you need to have an attack-down mentality, and the girls have owned it and it has been a crucial point to our success down the stretch."

With the victory, the Demons have a game against No. 4 UTRGV in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 11 a.m. The teams split during the games this season, with the Demons walking away with a 64-59 overtime road win in the last meeting.

In the first half, it was a different story, as the Demons struggled on offense, shooting just 25.8 percent from the field, as NSU fell behind 32-23 at the break.

The Lions used a 17-2 run in the first quarter to build their largest lead of the day at 20-7.

Nina Horvath, who came in shooting below 27 percent from deep, made all four of her 3-point attempts in the first half, including a banked in one.

In the second half, the Demons defense held her scoreless.

Cimiya Rideaux made huge baskets in the first three quarters, as Atamah missed most of the first half with two fouls. She scored a career-high 10 points, including one at the end of the third quarter to cut it to 43-42.

As a whole, the bench stepped up with 20 points.

"The bench was phenomenal," Nimz said. "I told everybody in the locker room that it is going to take the entire team to make it through the conference tournament. I thought the bench did a tremendous job, keeping the score within nine at halftime. That is big credit to every kid who played."

Celaya had seven points, 13 rebounds and five assists, while Clarence Djuela secured 10 rebounds.

NSU has had at least 15 offensive rebounds in each of the last six games.

Momina Kassim and Dasia Turner each chipped in with four points.

The Demons helped themselves immensely from the free throw line, going 14-of-15.

Tiani Ellison scored a game-high 15 points for East Texas A&M. Rezo Po was held in check by Valentine, as the Lions' second-leading scorer was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting.