By Jonathan Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES—Northwestern State’s women’s basketball stuck right with Central Arkansas, but a fourth quarter run did in the Demons in a 62-52 loss Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (3-6) trailed by just four points heading into the final quarter, but they were held off the scoreboard the first 5:33 of the final period, and the Sugar Bears (6-2) capitalized to push the lead to 10.
Northwestern State cut the deficit to six points with 3:29 left after a basket from Sharna Ayres and a pair of free throws from Mya Blake, but a cold-blooded 3-pointer from Leah Mafua quickly stretched the lead to 54-45 with three minutes to go.
“There were a lot of good moments and we strung together a lot of good possessions,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “I was excited to see 24 points in the paint. There was some really good defensive execution. But we lost the turnovers. It is the same story as last week. We gave it up 18 times and they scored 20 points off them. We didn’t get back on defense after the turnovers and they capitalized on them. The 20 points, that is the difference in the game.”
The Demons cut the deficit to five with less than a minute to play, but UCA buried 5-of-6 from the free throw line to finish the game and cement the Sugar Bears victory.
Kinley Fisher saved her best for the final quarter, as she scored eight of her nine points to lead UCA in the final period.
Sugar Bears leading scorer Jade Upshaw was held in check in the first half, scoring just five points, but took over in the second half, tallying 13 of her 18 in the second half, including 12 in the third period.
A triple from Sharna Ayres, one of her three on the afternoon, tied the score early in the third quarter, but a 13-4 Sugar Bears run pushed the visitors to a nine-point lead.
Northwestern State played to a draw with UCA in the middle two periods, but the Sugar Bears won the first quarter by four and the final period by six.
In the first half, Jasmin Dixon was on triple-double watch, recording four points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the first half.
She finished with those four points, as well as career highs in both rebounds (16) and blocks (6).
The 16 rebounds are the most since Victoria Miller grabbed 16 against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 25, 2016, and the six blocks are the most since Jasmine Upchurch denied six shots against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 11, 2012.
“I was excited to see her performance today,” Nimz said. “One of her blocks today was actually one where she blocked it off the backboard. She provided energy when we needed it with those blocked shots and they only had five second chance points and a lot of that was due to Jasmin. She played tremendous and she knows she can do it every single game, so we are excited for the next game because was because she is a big-time presence. I am really proud of her.
Three players for the Demons finished in double figures, led by Blake’s 14 points. Vernell Atamah (13) and Ayres (11) also finished in double digits in scoring.
Blake nearly recorded her second consecutive double-double, also hauling down nine rebounds to go along with five assists.
Despite both teams entering the game in the top 25 in 3-point attempts per game, both averaging more than 26 attempts per game from behind the arc, neither team reached its season average.
The Demons attempted 22, while making seven, and the Sugar Bears made six of their 18 shots from deep.
While UCA made the Demons pay big time for their mistakes, Northwestern State turned the 15 Sugar Bears turnovers to four points and the visitors outscored Northwestern State 16-2 in fast break points.
The Demons out-rebounded the Sugar Bears 41-34, including grabbing 14 offensive boards, which helped translate into seven more shot attempts.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Demons, as they make the trip to Tampa for a road game against South Florida on Tuesday. Northwestern State next plays in front of the home crowd Jan. 2 against in-state rival McNeese.