By Jonathon Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES—It won’t take long for Northwestern State fans to take an up-close look at the new-look women’s basketball team.
The Alan Frey era opens in front of the home crowd, as the Demons welcome Ecclesia for a Monday night tip-off to begin the season.
Tip is at 6:30 p.m. at Prather Coliseum.
“Playing in front of the home crowd brings so much more excitement into you,” newcomer Erica Carr said. “It also helps us focus, as the season is very long for us. We have great teams in front of us, but having a crowd that supports us, whether we win or lose—of course we are looking to win—but having that crowd to support us is great.”
After months of practicing and playing against each other, NSU is excited to finally start playing in the regular season.
“The word I’d use to describe finally getting the season started is excited,” Frey said. “I’ve been getting texts from people all over the country asking if I am excited for Monday, and I really am. I can’t wait to see us, as we’ve been working really hard on this product for six months and hopefully, we’ll have a product that NSU will be happy about.”
Including Carr, the Demons brought in 11 new players, with eight transfers and three freshmen.
NSU is led by junior point guard KP Parr, who had strong seasons at Wichita State and Texas State before finding her way to Natchitoches.
Last season at Texas State, she led her team with 93 assists after being second in that category at Wichita State as a freshman.
Despite bringing in 11 new faces, Parr is excited about the chemistry between the players even though the season is just beginning.
“I would say the chemistry is great,” she said. “I feel like everyone knows everyone else’s strengths and weaknesses, so we play to those strengths on the court. Off the court, we have great relationships with each other, and everyone is always hanging around each other or making plans with each other and I hope that translates to the basketball court.”
The four returning players for NSU are Mina Kassim, Payton Miller, Cimiya Rideaux and Stephie Salumu.
Rideaux had a strong finish to her freshman season with 10 big points in the comeback win in the Southland Tournament against East Texas A&M.
Salumu showed impressive flashes last season, especially in the win at Houston Christian when she had 12 points and nine rebounds.
During Frey’s introductory press conference, he saw the talent in the state of Louisiana and wanted the heart and soul of the team from the state.
Stella Allison comes in as a freshman from French Settlement after an outstanding prep career, where she was named all-state all four years.
As a senior, she averaged 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals per game, which earned her All-State First Team and district MVP.
NSU must replace the two key cogs from the most prolific 3-point shooting team in program history in Vernell Atamah and Nya Valentine.
Transfers Yaly Ben Harush and Delora Pricop can help with some of that, as Harush has a reputation as being a sharpshooter.
A 6-3 post player, Pricop has the ability to stretch defenses with her perimeter shooting, as she made 35.1 percent from deep last year at Hutchinson CC.
Frey is excited to see where his team stacks up, and what areas the team needs to work on a bit more as season moves on.
“You never think you are where you need to be,” Frey said. “We have a lot of areas we are still working on, but I am excited about our progress. And the thing is, you look and see what it looks like when the lights turn on because sometimes practice is different than games.”
It is the second meeting all-time between the two schools after playing last season. In the game, NSU broke the school record in both 3-pointers made (18) and margin of victory (78) in a 108-30 win.
Fans can watch on ESPN+ if unable to attend with Patrick Netherton and Jordan Dupuy on the call.
Following the contest, the Demons begin a difficult stretch in which they play back-to-back power conference teams, starting with a trip to Arkansas on Friday morning.