By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State tapped into its maturity and composure down the stretch on Thursday night to pick up a tight 63-61 win over HCU.
The Demons (6-8, 2-1) held the Huskies scoreless for a key two-minute period at the end of the third quarter and even more critical three-minute stretch at the end of the fourth to hold on for the two-point win.
A career performance from transfer Jenny Ntambwe, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, provided the perfect balance to the Demon offense to complement a pair of double-figure nights from Sharna Ayres and Jiselle Woodson.
“There were a lot of different things that we did to ourselves and didn’t capitalize on opportunities,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “But we handled runs and there was a next-level composure through some silly mistakes that we made to get it done. We can always get better. We can always continue to work on ourselves, but they found a way to get the job done tonight.”
The Demons led for more than 35 minutes of the game after scoring the first points of the game and taking a 13-10 lead on a Karmelah Dean 3-pointer five minutes into the game. NSU started 5-for-7 from the field with the Huskies finishing the quarter 1-for-7 putting the Demons up 19-15 after the first 10 minutes.
After taking a 32-27 lead into the half, thanks to the NSU defense holding the Huskies without a field goal for the final six minutes of the second quarter, the biggest HCU run of the game quickly tightened things up in the third quarter.
Up by eight after an Ayres 3-pointer with 4:40 remaining in the period, the Huskies rattled off eight straight points, scoring on four of their five possessions during that time and forcing three turnovers, tying the game at 43 with 2:14 to go.
A timeout called by Nimz settled the team and led to the first key stretch of basketball in the late stages of the game.
NSU responded with five points of their own, including layups from Nia Hardison and Ntambwe on consecutive trips that both were the result of forced turnovers on the other end of the floor. The five-point swing gave the Demons the 48-43 lead going to the final 10 minutes.
“That timeout was more so us just making sure they were calm,” Nimz said. “And I felt like they were. They were focused in on what was being said. The message in that timeout was basketball is a game of runs, they had theirs and its time for us to have one. They went out, created some opportunities and executed the sets we drew up and had that relentless attitude to their approach.”
Ayres put the Demons back up by two possession midway through the fourth quarter with her fourth 3-pointer of the game, immediately after finding an open Ntambwe around the block for an easy bucket on the possession prior. The banked in 3 was one of two such makes in the game giving the Demons a bigger sense of calm to be able to close out the tight affair.
“It really felt like it was a confidence thing,” Ayres said. “It made us all think ‘we got this’ and we needed that to go in so we could keep the runs to a minimum for them. We had to stay together so we could get back ahead and that’s what we did.”
A quick five-point answer from the Huskies on their next two possessions tied the score at 58 setting the stage for the final tense moments for a Demon defense that welcomed them with open arms.
NSU did not allow a single point for the next 3:36 of the game until a desperation 3 from HCU’s top scorer on the night Kennedy Wilson banked in with less than two seconds on the clock.
With the defense locking things down on one end of the floor, Ntambwe, who found success all night getting the ball in the midrange or around the basket, provided the key bucket to put NSU ahead late. Getting the ball on the right elbow, Ntambwe took her defender off the bounce to get to the basket for an easy lay in making it a 60-58 game with less than a minute to go.
“Knowing how I am as a player I feel much better with my right hand,” Ntambwe said. “Coach called the play for me to be able to go that way and have the advantage to attack that way.”
Woodson provided a pair of critical free throws on a rare off night from the line for the Demons with six second left to ice the game and give NSU its second home conference win in two tries.