By Jonathon Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Erika Cruz, SFAz Athletics
LAKE CHARLES — Mya Blake poured in 29 points, but the Northwestern State women’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 69-54 loss to No. 4 UIW on Monday afternoon at the Legacy Center in the quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The season comes to an end for the Demons (16-15, 12-8) after a milestone year that saw Northwestern State record its best season in a decade.
“I am incredibly grateful for this entire team,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “We weren’t the better team today, but these girls did a lot of things this season that haven’t been done in a decade. There’s a lot to be really proud of, and that is what I am taking away from this game and this tournament. We didn’t want to go out the way we did today, but hats off to UIW.”
A team that shot under 30 percent from deep in both overall and during conference play, UIW (18-12, 12-8) made seven 3-pointers in the first half, including going 4-of-6 in the first quarter to set the tone for the game.
UIW makes less than five 3-pointers per game but exploded for nine triples in 20 attempts.
The Cardinals did what they have done all season, and relied on balance, as four players scored in double figures and none more than 14 points, which was scored by Dorian Norris.
Every time Northwestern State made a run to cut into the Cardinals lead, UIW had an answer every time.
UIW started hot, making four of its first five 3-point shots, all from four different players, to build a 14-6 lead, before the Demons fought back, scoring the final five points of the quarter off a 3-pointer from Blake and layup from Sharna Ayres.
Like the last meeting between the two, the Cardinals used a run in the second quarter to gain separation, a lead they never gave up and always kept the Demons at a distance.
Last time, UIW outscored Northwestern State 20-9. This time, it was 21-14, as the Cardinals shot 53.3 percent and 3-of-5 from deep, compared to just 28.6 for the Demons, as the No. 4 seed stormed out to a 35-25 halftime advantage.
Destiny Whitaker scored seven of her 11 points in the second quarter to help build the advantage, including burying her only 3-point make of the game with two seconds left in the quarter to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game to that point.
The lead grew to 13 at 41-28 early in the third quarter, as Myra Bell scored four of UIW’s first six points of the quarter. Bell tallied 12 on the afternoon.
A pair of Ayres free throws and a Blake 3-pointer cut the deficit to six points just past the midway point of the third quarter, but that was as close as the score became the rest of the way.
Like UIW did all afternoon, the Cardinals embarked on a run to seal it, going on a 9-0 spurt to blow the game open. Norris had the final four points in the run, forcing the Demons to burn a timeout.
The Demons had fight left, as a 7-0 run ended the third and Northwestern State had confidence heading into the final period.
“I think the girls responded,” Nimz said. “Throughout the course of the season, we’ve been nationally ranked defensively, holding teams to well under their average, especially from the 3-point line. Today, we didn’t do that, and they had a few players who statistically weren’t hitting and today they did. They showed up and made some tournament shots and it is a testament to them. But our girls rallied. We got it tight a handful of times, so there no light up and no give up and that is all you can ask for, as a coach.”
The final basket was a historic one for the Demons, as Ayres buried a triple to cut it to 50-42, the 213th made 3-pointer for Northwestern State this season, a new school record.
Individually, Ayres finished her career in third place in career made 3-pointers at Northwestern State.
UIW scored the first five of the fourth to put it back to double figures and following a Blake 3-pointer, a tip-in from Raimi McCrary pushed it back to double digits, which is where the score remained the rest of the game.
McCrary nearly posted a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Outside of Blake, freshman of the year Vernell Atamah scored 10 points, the only other Demon in double figures.
Jorja Elliott posted another solid game against Northwestern State, scoring 11 points and recorded five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
UIW shot 42.1 percent for the game, while Northwestern State was held to 33.3 percent.