By Jonathon Zenk, Northwesterne State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES—Suffocating defense along with a 27-0 run spanning the first and second quarters propelled the Northwestern State women’s basketball team to a 71-53 rout over Houston Christian on Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
The Demons (14-14, 11-8) held HCU (6-23, 3-17) without a point for 13:41, spanning the first and second quarters, to blow open the game. The Huskies did not score in the second quarter until 23 seconds to play in the period.
During the run, Northwestern State poured in 27 consecutive points to blow the game open to 44-8 before a late triple from Madelyne Davis finished the first half scoring.
With Saturday’s results around the Southland Conference, the Demons are locked into the No. 5 seed in the SLC Tournament, which begins March 10 in Lake Charles.
Northwestern State draws No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round.
After back-to-back games of allowing at least 70 points, the Demons went back to their roots—stellar defense.
“I am just proud of them,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “The starters, in particular, came out and were firing on all cylinders and their defense was back to where it needed to be. I think our top three scorers were finding each other in transition.
“We were getting production from everybody, whether it was offensively or defensively. I am happy for them and happy to get back on track.”
Kierra Prim scored her only two buckets of the game in the first two minutes and the game for HCU and it was tied 4-4 before the Demons rattled off a huge run, thanks to freshman Vernell Atamah, who solidified her candidacy for SLC Freshman of the Year.
Tied at four, Atamah posted a personal 11-2 run to surge in front by nine, drilling a pair of 3-pointers, recording a basket and one as well as a jumper, forcing the Huskies to burn a timeout.
“Vee was tremendous,” Nimz said. “She was shooting with confidence from the perimeter and made a lot of nice plays and finished at the rim. Unfortunately, she was one rebound away from a double-double. We gave her three additional minutes to get that one, but it didn’t happen. She did a really nice job, so we were really happy to see it for her.”
Leading 22-8, Northwestern State put an exclamation point on an impressive first quarter, as Mya Blake picked the pocket of Davis at midcourt and the senior from California coasted in for a layup that beat the buzzer and pushed the lead to 24-8 at the end of the first.
Points off turnovers were heavily in Northwestern State’s favor, as Blake’s layup was two of the 21 points off turnovers, forcing the Huskies into 15 miscues.
In that half, the stifling defense allowed HCU to shoot just 5-of-29 (17.2) percent from the field and 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from 3-point range, as Northwestern State led 44-11 after 20 minutes.
Not to be out-done, the 44 points scored by the offense were the most points scored in the first half since dropping in 45 in the 83-66 victory against New Orleans on Jan. 16.
Offensively, Atamah carried the scoring load in the first half, pouring in 17 of her 21 points in the first 20 minutes, outscoring the Huskies 17-11 by herself in the opening 20 minutes.
In addition to Atamah, Blake (18), Sharna Ayres (14) and Nia Hardison (11) also each scored in double figures for the Demons.
The Huskies scored 19 points in the third quarter, more than it scored all first half, to cut the deficit to 56-30, but Northwestern State was never threatened in the blowout victory.
While HCU improved its shooting in the final 20 minutes, the Demons still held the Huskies to 29.9 percent overall, the third conference opponent Northwestern State has held under 30 percent shooting.
In the third quarter, Northwestern State made just 3 of 17 shots, but the big margin was only shaved by seven points. When the Demons did miss, as they went 25-of-68, they grabbed 15 rebounds for a 35 percent offensive rebounding percentage.
Northwestern State dominated the glass, winning the battle on the boards 52-41.
Two Huskies finished in double figures, led by Victoria Dixon’s 12. Tiffany Tullis added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Demons wrap up the regular season when they welcome East Texas A&M to Prather Coliseum on Wednesday for Senior Day before beginning the Southland Conference Tournament.