By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State led from start to finish on Thursday night, building as much as a 19-point lead in the third quarter, but needed a lockdown defensive effort down the stretch to secure a 55-47 win against Nicholls.
The Demons (11-16, 7-9) withstood a 14-1 Colonel (13-15, 7-9) run over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter that sliced the lead down to three at 50-47 with 5:21 left in the game. One of the best defensive teams in the Southland Conference then held their opponents scoreless for the final five minutes to move into a three-way tie for the No. 5 seed in the tournament bracket.
“For three and a half quarters I thought we absolutely played phenomenal,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “They shared the ball. They attacked. They were versatile. The 3-ball wasn’t falling for us tonight, but they found a way to score. We got kind of loose down the stretch and relaxed a little too much. But we have an end goal in mind and for three and half quarters they showed what it’s going to take to get there.”
The defense that carried the torch down the stretch was equally as stingy throughout the first three quarters of the night.
The Demons did not allow Nicholls a made field goal on their first seven attempts of the game and held them to a 2-for-18 effort over the first 10 minutes of the night. The offense sandwiched the effort with a 7-0 run to open the game and an 8-0 run to close the quarter, taking a 15-4 lead into the second.
In her first full game back after injuring her hand in the first meeting with the Colonels in January, Jiselle Woodson made her first start and put in six points in the first quarter. She had 10 points in the first 13 minutes of the game after two quick baskets to open the second quarter. She finished the game with 15 points and snuck her way through traffic to grab 10 rebounds on the night and secure her first career double-double.
“I would say I was feeling it a little bit,” Woodson said. “My teammates had my back. They were feeding me the ball and showing the confidence they had in me. I love them for that. Honestly the fact that I had 10 rebounds surprised me, I thought that I had about three. But it was great to be back and be on the court again and play the game that I love and do what I do.”
The Colonels made three of their four total field goals in the second during the first three minutes of the period as the defense put together another long clinic holding Nicholls scoreless for more than four minutes. A 3-point ball ended the stretch for the Colonels that was immediately answered on the other end by Karmelah Dean, starting another 8-0 scoring run for the Demons.
Dean’s triple was the first of eight straight for the senior to close the period and give NSU32-18 lead going into the half. Dean and Woodson led the offensive production with 10 points each in the first half while Jasmin Dixon helped spearhead the stout defense.
Matched up against the reigning conference player of the week in Lexi Alexander, Dixon’s length and agility helped hold Alexander to four total points in the first half and a 1-for-7 effort from the field. Dixon blocked three shots in the game, all against Alexander, and was a huge catalyst for NSU’s defense in the game.
“Play hard and don’t get scored on,” Dixon said of her mindset guarding Alexander. “That was really my biggest thing. We scouted hard and knew what she wanted to do and her tendencies so it was doing my best to not let her do that.”
Little separated the teams through the third quarter with both shooting better than 40 percent from the field and Nicholls only able to close the 14-point half time deficit by one going into the fourth quarter.
The Colonels made their push back into the game quickly despite a mediocre 4-for-10 shooting effort from the field. The did get five points on five free throw attempts and shot 10-of-11 on the night. NSU managed just three shot attempts during the 14-1 run and turned the ball over three times.
After seeing the lead shrink down to three points, the Demons did not allow a single shot to fall through the rim and did not allow an offensive rebound until there was less than a minute to go in the game and they had already converted four free throw attempts to push the lead to its final eight-point margin.
“At the end of the game down in the final two minutes they dialed it in and got it done,” Nimz said. “They showed composure. I was proud of them for that. Missed some moments there but overall just a very good game.”
Dean joined Woodson with 15 points in the game to lead the NSU offense. Dixon finished with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.