NATCHITOCHES, LA (NSU) – Northwestern State faced one of the Southland Conference’s best teams in their first home game in a month, taking in a handful of small wins in an otherwise tough 87-28 loss to Stephen F. Austin.
The Lady Demons (0-9, 0-4 SLC) have halved their total sales compared to the previous game, coping well with the constant SFA pressure throughout the night and executing on the offensive with several noticeable hustle games.
“We’re trying to take away small wins,” said first year head coach Anna Nimz. “We have to keep finding these positives to keep encouraging the girls to do these things and keep working to fix the things we miss.”
The Ladyjacks (13-4, 5-0 SLC) wasted little time demonstrating their efficiency on the offensive and defensive. A 3-pointer 14 seconds after the start of the game gave them the lead and triggered a 17-0 run over the first five and a half minutes of the game. Five NSU sales during this route supported the long opening run.
Anessa Dusette, who finished with 10 points at team level, brought the Lady Demons onto the board at 4:21 of the quarter. Her jumper was immediately answered with another 3-ball from SFA to increase the lead to 18.
After the NSU had adapted to the speed and pressure of the SFA defense, it limited its sales to the rest of the quarter after the first five minutes. The Lady Demons only spun the ball twice around the rest of the half.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Nimz. “I thought the girls played more evenly against a great press team today. And with the way they fall back in those extended 2-3, I thought our girls did well.
“Our 16 sales were the lowest we’ve had in a long time, and that was against one of the best programs at our conference. That was one of those little victories that we saw today. “
While the improvement that secured the ball during play opened up scoring opportunities, those buckets didn’t fall through the net. NSU shot only 14 percent from the field in the first half and only six percent in the first quarter and left the door open so that SFA could build an insurmountable lead.
“We did some things that were really nice and I’m proud of them,” said Nimz. “But when we got the chance to get this bucket, we shot over the lip of the rim instead of using the backboard, or took long 2s instead of using another dribble or two to get a higher percentage shot.
“The good news, however, is that the more you shoot, the more you will go in. So this is something that can be corrected. The nice thing about these recordings is that we get them even though we missed them. “
SFA continued to apply pressure through the second half, holding the Lady Demons for a 4v27 shot while maintaining their blistering offensive performance and finishing the game with 54 percent of their shots.
“We have to keep believing in the process.” Said Nimz. “Sometimes you can fall away from it looking at the record, but it’s the only thing that works. We have to get involved and move forward. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s game, another street game, but we lived on the street so it’s nothing new. I hope to have some good practices and move on with these. “
The Lady Demons head out for a three-game conference swing on Saturday afternoon, starting with Southeastern La.
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