NACOGDOCHES, Texas—Vernell Atamah’s 23-point double-double was not enough, as Northwestern State couldn’t hold an early lead and lost 70-63 at Stephen F. Austin on Thursday evening at the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Southland Conference women’s basketball.
Atamah recorded her third double-double of the season for the Lady Demons (9-9 overall, 6-4 in the SLC) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The 23 points were her most since pouring in 27 against Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 25. However, the Ladyjacks (14-5, 8-2) used a late six-point run to seal the game after NSU moved within 63-61.
“There were a lot of positives tonight,” Northwestern coach Anna Nimz said. “But we shot poorly inside the arc, and it plagued us. They played hard. They played with tremendous heart. We controlled the pace of play and shot it 14 more times than SFA, but we didn’t connect on the bunnies.”
A 3-pointer by Nya Valentine and pair of free throws got the visitors within two points at 63-61 with less than three minutes to play. Clarence Djuela recorded a block to give NSU a chance to tie or take the lead.
From that point on, the Demons went 1-for-6 with a turnover with the only bucket coming on a Tiara Abron layup with 16 seconds left to finish the scoring.
With 1:24 remaining, Kaylinn Kemp scored a layup for two of her team-high 21 points to put the Ladyjacks on top by four. SFA made three of its four free throws in the final minute to seal the game.
NSU jumped out to a 22-7 first quarter lead, making seven of its first 13 shots from the field and holding SFA to 2-of-10 to start.
After a 3-for-11 opening quarter, the Ladyjacks shot 48.6 percent in the final three quarters, while the Demons shot just 31.9 percent.
The difference was even more apparent from deep, as the Demons shot just 2-for-11 from deep in the second half, including missing nine of their final 10 3-point attempts.
On the flip side, the Ladyjacks made 8-of-15 from deep in the final three quarters after missing all five 3-point attempts they took in the opening 10 minutes.
Perhaps no two triples were bigger for SFA than the final two of the third quarter.
Trailing 49-47, the Ladyjacks received 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions from Key Roseby and Hermanie Dominguez to end the third quarter and take a 53-49 lead into the final frame. They never trailed in the fourth.
Abron scored 13 for her fifth consecutive game in double figures for the Demons, but the stifling SFA defense forced her to shoot 17 times to earn the 13 points. Valentine also reached double figures, scoring 10.
With Saturday’s game postponed against East Texas A&M, the next Northwestern contest is next Thursday at home against Nicholls before heading right back on the road for three more against New Orleans (Jan. 31), Lamar (Feb. 5) and East Texas A&M (Feb. 7).
