By Jonathon Zenk, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES—Two free throws from Ashlyn Traylor-Walker with a second left gave visiting Stephen F. Austin a 68-66 win over the Northwestern State women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
With the score tied, Traylor-Walker was fouled with a second left on a drive. She calmly sank both free throws and Vernell Atamah missed a 3-pointer as time expired to seal the victory for the visitors.
Traylor-Walker scored a game-high 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field.
The Demons (12-12, 9-6) lost both games to the Ladyjacks (22-5, 12-4) by two points, as they aim to earn a first round bye in the Southland Conference Tournament.
“I am very disappointed. I feel like we’ve given away a few games. Obviously, the girls have given a lot of energy and there’s a lot of effort. But we threw away the ball 24 times and they converted them into 28 points and that is a really hard game to win. We had some opportunities in the game that we didn’t capitalize on, but we fought the turnover bug from the jump. I am just disappointed.”
Northwestern State made a valiant comeback from 11 points down in the second half to tie the game late and bring the game to the brink of overtime before the late foul.
In a chaotic fourth quarter, Mya Blake missed a jump shot with two seconds left, which gave the ball to SFA with the opportunity to win it.
Blake scored eight of her team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, trying to lift the Demons to victory. Down two with two minutes left, she buried a triple to give the home team its first lead of the half, 65-64.
In addition to her 22 points, the reigning SLC Player of the Week recorded eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
A pivotal moment came with 3:36 left after a corner 3-pointer from SFA’s Trinity Moore. Moore was given a technical following the make and coach Leonard Bishop also was given a technical. The Demons only made one of the four free throws, but Nia Hardison buried a triple in the ensuing free throws to cut the deficit to one.
Northwestern State, the best team from the charity stripe in the SLC going into the game, made 11-of-21 from the free throw line.
The turnovers also hurt the Demons, as the home team coughed the ball up 24 times, which led to 28 SFA points.
The Ladyjacks only went 7-of-29 from 3-point range, as the top-ranked 3-point defense held one of the best teams in the country from deep in check.
With under four minutes to play in the third quarter, the Demons trailed 51-40 but embarked on a 12-3 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth to fight right back into the game, which set up for frantic finish.
Atamah had five of her 17 points in the run and Carla Celaya recorded all four of her points.
Atamah’s 17 are her most points in nearly a month when she tallied 21 against Southeastern Louisiana. She grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double during league play.
The first half was a game of runs.
After a bucket from the Ladyjacks to start the game, the Demons fought back with 10 in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers from Sharna Ayres.
SFA took that punch and responded with a 22-3 run to take a commanding 24-13 advantage.
After an 8-0 Demons run to tie the score at 24, the Ladyjacks rolled to a 10-4 run of their own before Blake buried a couple baskets to cut it to five at the break.
The Demons dominated the glass, winning 56-36, including grabbing a whopping 22 offensive boards, leading to 20 second chance points.
“We out-rebounded them by 20 and had a significant number of second chance points and stats like that typically lead you to a win.”
In addition to Blake and Atamah reaching double figures for the Demons, Ayres (10) and Nia Hardison (10) each found double figures as well.
The Demons hit the road for their final two road games of the season, beginning with a trip to Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday before finishing with a trip to New Orleans on Feb. 22.
“I am very appreciative of our fanbase. They were big and I’d love to have them out again. We have three more home games down the stretch. Demondland, we appreciate you. We let that one slide, but we’re going to go back to work. Overall, we’re really close. They are a great team and a great group of kids, but we just have to pull together and learn from today.”