The Northwestern State men’s basketball team closes out its regular-season home slate tonight as the Demons host UIW in a key Southland Conference matchup at Prather Coliseum.
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on Mike McConathy Court. The game can be streamed on ESPN+. Radio coverage is available on the Demon Sports Network including flagship station 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches.
NSU (9-19, 7-12) enters the contest riding momentum after a wire-to-wire 71-53 victory over Houston Christian Saturday on Senior Day.
The Demons delivered their most complete performance of the season, holding HCU to 38 percent shooting while building a 20-point lead in the second half.
Micah Thomas led the way with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting and a perfect 8-of-8 effort at the free-throw line. Izzy Miles added 17 points and seven assists, setting the tone defensively and in transition. Willie Williams recorded another double-double — his sixth of the season — with 12 points and 10 rebounds, anchoring the interior as the Demons outscored the Huskies 34-22 in the paint.
The performance marked Northwestern’s first double-digit win since its blowout of Southern-New Orleans and reinforced the defensive identity head coach Rick Cabrera has emphasized down the stretch.
Now comes a rematch with a UIW (11-17, 6-13) team that rallied to hand the Demons a last-second 76–74 loss on Jan. 17. UIW enters Monday night fresh off an 82–73 road win at East Texas A&M on Saturday.
Cabrera said the Demons’ formula for success remains consistent.
“We have to defend and rebound,” he said. “You’re going to hear me say that all the time. That’s what’s going to get us into the (conference) tournament. We’re not going to outscore people every night. If we defend and rebound, I think we’ll be fine.”
LADY DEMONS 70, HCU 64: Sophomore Vee Atamah poured in 21 points and four seniors combined for 36 points to dig deep and lead Northwestern (14-13, 11-8) to comeback win over Houston Christian (8-18, 6-13) on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
The victory over HCU clinches a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament and one win from matching last season’s SLC win total.
“I challenged them pretty good at halftime,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “I gave them two options, and it was very clear which option they chose. They absolutely dug in and fought and were resilient. It wasn’t an easy second half. It wasn’t that everything just went well for us, we fought through adversity in the final 20 minutes. It made me proud.”
Dasia Turner, who had scored 19 points in Southland play before Saturday, had a career day with 15 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the Lady Demons. Fellow seniors Tiara Abron (11) and Nya Valentine (10) each scored in double figures as well.
“I was just ready when my name was called,” Turner said. “I knew that we needed a lot of energy and with it being Senior Day, you never want to lose on Senior Day. Whatever it takes, defending and rebounding for sure, making sure my team got riled up.”
While she didn’t crack the scoreboard, the fourth senior, Carla Celaya, did what she does, as she cemented the win with the last defensive rebound of the game, a fitting way for the contest to finish.
It was the ol’ reliable Atamah who came up with the biggest shot of the game.
In her chase to make the most 3-pointers in a single season in program history, the sophomore only made one triple on the afternoon, but she made it count.
Down one late, Atamah received a pass from Abron in the corner, and her 3-pointer erased the last Demon deficit and made it 64-62 with less than two minutes to play.
It is the 77th made triple of the season for the native of Mesquite, Texas, in fourth place in program history.
Atamah followed that up with two free throws after a bucket by HCU’s Grace Booth, who finished with a game-high 22 points. For the game, Atamah went 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
While Atamah and Turner did a lot of their work to put NSU on top, Valentine made sure her team would not lose, as she drew a charge on the next possession and buried four late free throws to seal the win.
The Demons shot 22-of-26 from the free throw line, including 17-of-18 in the second half.