AUSTIN, Texas — Fresh off arguably its most impressive victory of the season, the Northwestern State women’s basketball team faces a massive test on the road against No. 2 Texas tonight to conclude the Demons’ non-conference schedule.
Tip-off is at 8 p.m. at the Moody Center in a game that can be viewed on the SEC Network. Upcoming Sunday, NSU plays its first game in front of the home crowd in a month when it dives back into SLC play, hosting Lamar for a 1 p.m. tip in Prather Coliseum.
NSU (5-4) prevailed at McNeese on Monday evening to go to 2-0 in Southland Conference competition for the first time in a decade. It was also a win over a Cowgirls team with a refreshed roster stocked with 10 players and the head coach of last year’s SLC champions from Southeastern.
This contest against Texas is the fourth game this season against a power conference team from four different conferences.
“It is an opportunity to play the best of the best, a top-2 team in the nation, and it is an opportunity to coach against incredible coaches,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “Also, it is a great opportunity to play in that facility. I’ve heard it is very surreal. What an opportunity to play in that type of environment and be a part of it. This game for us will be about us finding ways to grow and get better.”
Nya Valentine had perhaps her best game as a Demon at McNeese with a career-high 19 points, making five 3-pointers after making 11 in the first eight contests combined. Her biggest triple came with 19 seconds left on a pass from Tiara Abron, as Valentine buried a shot from the right corner to put NSU in front by five and essentially icing the game.
In addition to her scoring output, she also chipped in with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Vernell Atamah poured in a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and a team-high three steals. It is her seventh game of at least 20 points this season and in one of the two contests she didn’t, the sophomore scored 19.
In all games, Atamah leads the Southland in scoring (21.1 ppg) and her 29 made 3-pointers are second.
NSU continued its trend of strong rebounding, winning 37-29 on the glass against McNeese, and has outrebounded its opponent in five of the last six contests.
Texas (12-0) has a knack for forcing turnovers with its pressure, ranking in the top 20 nationally in steals per game (13.4).
“Their defensive pressure is highly impressive,” Nimz said. “(Texas) Coach (Vic) Schaefer is known for his defensive philosophy. We talked about poise against McNeese; it’s going to have to go up even tenfold against Texas.”
In the latest poll, the Longhorns received eight first place votes. Texas has dominated a difficult schedule this season so far, collecting 11 of the 12 victories by double digits, including against four top-25 opponents.
At the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving, Texas defeated then-No. 3 UCLA by 11 before taking down then-No. 2 South Carolina by two.
Seven Longhorns average in double figures in scoring and another averages 9.2 per contest.
