By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSO Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – After a dominant first half Northwestern State flexed its defensive muscle when it meant the most to come away with a 69-66 win against Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday afternoon.
The Demons (9-12, 5-5) saw an 18-point third-quarter lead gradually slip away throughout the second half before returning to their first-half form and holding Commerce to just two points over the final four minutes to earn a hard-fought victory.
“We made the game harder than we needed to but we capitalized on our opportunities down the stretch,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “The girls did a good job of bouncing back throughout the game after facing some adversity this week and in the game. They absolutely could have folded but they came together when it counted most. Everybody did their job.”
The first 20 minutes of the game were some of the most well-rounded on both ends of the court for the Demons this season. They started 4-for-5 from the field with Karmelah Dean and Sharna Ayres each making their first two attempts of the game.
The defense held the high-powered Lions without field goal for the first five minutes of the game and limited them to just three total in the first quarter.
NSU shot 10-for-18 from the field in the first quarter on route to a 24-point period. A 10-2 run early in the second quarter stretched the NSU lead double-digits quickly at 34-22 with 5:39 left in the half.
All eight points from the field during that run came from inside the paint as the Demons dominated around the rim with a 28-6 advantage on the scoreboard and 29-17 edge in rebounding. Those same efforts showed up again in the crunch time to help secure the win.
NSU pushed the lead its largest of the game with a quick 7-0 run to open the third quarter. Another paint layup, this one from Nia Hardison, and a 3-point swish from Sharna Ayers gave the Demons a 50-32 lead with 7:41 to go in the quarter.
After an immediate Commerce timeout, the Lions’ Jordyn Newsome came out with a vengeance. With just six points in the game to that point, the junior guard scored 17 of her career-high 27 points over the next seven minutes to pull the Lions within five at the end of the quarter.
Commerce finished the period on a 10-0 run that turned into an 18-3 overall stretch through the first three minutes of the fourth quarter when Commerce’s top scorer on the season, Mia Deck, made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 62.
Following the media timeout with 6:37 remaining, the Demons returned to the thing that put them in control of the game with a brand-new game attitude.
“We just approached the game like it was tied like it is at the start of the game,” Ayres. “We start games so well. I can’t really explain why but we start games so well. So I told everyone let’s go play like this is a new game and that’s exactly what we did.”
NSU forced a turnover, a steal from Dean, leading to a fastbreak layup the other way to Jenny Ntambwe. The athleticism and size from the 6-foot-1 transfer proved to be a problem for the Lions all night and never more so than the final six minutes of the game.
Ntambwe scored six straight points for the Demons in the fourth including a layup and free throw that gave them a 67-64 lead with two minutes to go. She added a blocked shot that could have given the Lions the lead with a minute left and grabbed two offensive rebounds on the same possession that kept the ball in NSU’s hands with less than 30 second to go.
“Rebounding is huge for us,” Ntambwe said. “Whether we’re up or down. I knew in the moment that we needed those rebounds so it was going after the ball and putting a body on somebody. I felt like that was going to help save the game. Once I got it coach said to pull it out but I saw I had a mismatch so there was some indecision on should I go back up or what. I went back up for the shot and was able to help get that second rebound.”
NSU outrebounded their opponent for the fifth straight game, 47-37, and pulled in 15 offensive rebounds, the most in a conference game this year. The five straight games is the longest streak in conference play in more than 10 years.
Dean put through a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to extend the lead to three, then nearly picked up steal in the final seconds that forced a long, low-percentage attempt to tie from the Lions that fell well short ending the game.
“Anytime you give up a lead like that it is easy to cave in and give up and they didn’t,” Nimz said. “They came together. They listened well and intently locked in during timeouts. You could tell that they wanted it. After a couple of tight losses like we’ve had, I couldn’t be more proud.”
NSU had three players finish in double digits led by Ntambwe’s 16 off the bench. Ayres turned in her second double-double of the year with 14 points and 13 rebounds and Dean added 15, her fourth straight with 10 or more.