After having just one home game in the last month, the Northwestern State women’s basketball team gets to stay off a bus for a while.
NSU (11-11, 8-6) makes its return to Mike McConathy Court at Prather Coliseum in a Southland Conference matchup tonight against league-leading McNeese (20-4, 14-1) on the annual “White Out” promotion.
Tipoff is at 6:30 with fans encouraged to wear white clothing, especially NSU gear. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches.
This is the first of a five-game homestand, the most consecutive home contests since 2015-16 when the Lady Demons also had five in a row from Dec. 12-Jan. 4.
The Cowgirls have only lost once all season long in Southland play, falling to Northwestern in Lake Charles in December.
Vernell Atamah and Nya Valentine combined to score 39 points for the Lady Demons with a combined eight 3-pointers in that game. One of Valentine’s triples was particularly pivotal, putting the visitors in front 63-58 with 20 seconds left. NSU emerged with a big 65-56 road victory.
Valentine also dished one of her four assists to Clarence Djuela for a layup to put NSU in front 60-58 with two minutes to play.
It was close throughout, as the game was within four points the entire second half before Valentine’s late triple.
“We know we’re prepared,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “There should be some excitement about getting to play five in a row at home. What an opportunity. Can we string some of these together and do something special? The answer is yes we can, but we have to fight for it.
“They are going to be coming for us, and you have to imagine they will be even better than they were in their previous eight or nine games. Our players were excited for the challenge last game against them and they will be again.”
Since the loss to NSU, the Cowgirls have been on a mission, dominating opponents by an average of 21.5 points per game during their 13-game winning streak, including a 48-point blowout of Houston Christian on Feb. 5.
While the Demons dropped their last game at East Texas A&M, Tiara Abron has developed into the third scorer NSU has desperately needed. Abron scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting last Saturday and has reached double figures in points in eight of the last nine games.
During SLC play, Abron is 16th in the conference at 11.4 points per game, and the Demons are the only team in the league with three of the top 16 scorers during conference play.
For McNeese, former Parkway star Dakota Howard averages 15.2 points per game during SLC play on 53.6 percent shooting, including 43 steals, which leads the Southland. She had 17 points in the first meeting.
Seven others average at least five points per contest.
Turnovers will be a factor, as McNeese forces 24.8 opponent miscues a game.
“We had 23 turnovers the first time and they had 21 points off our turnovers and 23 is oddly below what they force on average. They have so much fight and determination and they hockey sub, so they are always fresh. Every player has ability to get 6-8 points and many of them have the capability to have big time nights. We must guard our yard.”
The Demons continue their stretch of five consecutive home games with a visit from another in-state rival, Southeastern Louisiana, on Saturday. It is the second of three games in five days for NSU, as it also plays East Texas A&M in a rescheduled game next Monday.
