By Jonathan Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES—A fast start from Northwestern State propelled it to a dominant 83-66 victory over visiting New Orleans on Thursday evening at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (8-7, 5-1) received a combined 49 points from Vernell Atamah and Sharna Ayres in the win, their fifth in a row to climb to third place in the Southland Conference standings.
Atamah, a freshman from Mesquite, Texas, had a career day, scoring a career-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, her second consecutive double-double.
“I’ve been eager to just get better every single game,” Atamah said. “It’s starting to click and I’m starting to understand the game more and my teammates more and how to look for them and how they are looking for me. It’s all playing out well.”
While Atamah put on a show in the final 34 minutes, Ayres started the game out on the right foot for the Demons, draining all three of her 3-point makes in the first five minutes, making them in a 1:19 span to break the game open at 15-6 and force a Privateers (0-15, 0-6) timeout.
The run was part of an extended 21-6 run to finish the first quarter, as the Demons shot a blistering 10-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from deep to lead 27-10 after the first quarter.
“We did a really good job coming out of the gate,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “We went up 17 after one and I thought we put it on cruise control, unfortunately, and we didn’t have that fighting desire to keep driving it.
Northwestern State never looked back.
Every UNO run was matched with one by Northwestern State.
The lead ballooned to 20 at 36-16 at the 6:22 mark of the second quarter, but the Privateers battled back with an 11-0 run to cut the Demons lead to nine.
The run was sparked by five Demons turnovers, as the Privateers scored nine of their 17 points off of Northwestern State miscues in the quarter.
For the game, UNO scored 24 points off 19 Northwestern State turnovers.
As quickly as UNO made the run to fight back into the game, Ayres scored five consecutive points during a 9-0 spurt to finish the half and push the Demons advantage back to 18 points.
“The girls showed a lot of resiliency in the sense of them making a run from 20 down to a nine-point game and then we’d drive the score back up,” Nimz said. “The score never flip-flopped completely and that showed a lot of resiliency and toughness.”
After the run to end the half, the Privateers never cut the lead into single digits the remainder of the game.
Atamah quickly scored four of the team’s first six points in the second half to push the advantage to 20 at 51-31.
“I’m proud of Vee,” Nimz said. “She does not play like a freshman. I don’t know if I have ever seen any nervous energy in her. One of her biggest skillsets is she wants to win. She does that in every part of her life, whether it is on or off the court. She is the epitome of how you do anything, it’s how you do everything. I love having her on the team.”
The freshman did work in every single quarter, as she scored between six and nine points every quarter. Her 17.7 points per game during league play is the tops in the SLC, leading the Demons with three in the top 10.
Mya Blake was in foul trouble, which limited her to just over 13 minutes of action, but she still scored 12 points and started the game with a triple, one of her two on the evening.
Northwestern State buried eight 3-pointers overall, its most since making nine against McNeese on Jan. 2.
The Demons shot 50.8 percent from the field, its best mark against a Division I opponent and second-best percentage this season, only trailing the 51.4 percent they shot against Arkansas Baptist on Nov. 12.
Payton Miller provided a spark off the bench for the Demons, scoring a career-high nine points on 4-of-4 shooting.
Alexis Reese dented the scoreboard for the first time as a Demon, scoring two points on a pair of free throws. She also added five rebounds, which was tied for third on the team, and a nice dish to Ayres for a bucket late in the game.
Brialle Washington led the charge for the UNO offense, scoring 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc.
Chenai Mushore recorded a double-double for the Privateers, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, including five offensive.
As a team, UNO grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, contributing to 12 more shot attempts than the Demons, but the stifling defense allowed the visitors to shoot just 33.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep.
Northwestern State welcomes Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday in a battle of two of the league’s top three teams, as the league-leading Lions sit at 7-0 in league play and in the last game of a four-game road trip.