Women's Basketball: Jan. 21 Scoreboard
Northwestern State 74, Nicholls 71
Central Arkansas 53, New Orleans 46
Northwestern State 74, Nicholls 71
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Physically, the members of Northwestern State’s women’s basketball backcourt do not qualify as huge.
Their impact Wednesday night, however, was massive.
Janelle Perez topped 20 points for the third straight game, Keisha Lee surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career and Beatrice Attura tallied a career high 16 points as the Lady Demons emerged with a 74-71 Southland Conference win against Nicholls State at Prather Coliseum.
The Lady Demons (11-7, 6-1 Southland) certainly found their offensive groove in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from 3-point range.
In overcoming a halftime deficit for the fifth time in seven conference games, NSU got a combined 31 second-half points from Perez and Lee.
Lee missed most of the first half with foul trouble, but enjoyed a quick start to the second half. Lee scored the Lady Demons’ first six points of the second half, including a baseline jumper at the 18:30 mark that made her the 26
th member of the 1,000-point club at Northwestern State.
Despite the big nights from the backcourt – 11 of Attura’s career-high 16 points came in the first half and helped keep the Lady Demons within striking distance despite sub-part shooting from the free-throw line – Nicholls (7-10, 3-3) had a chance to send the game to overtime.
Trailing 74-71 after a Perez jumper with 12 seconds to play, the Colonels inbounded the ball and worked it to the front court before calling timeout.
Inbounding from the far sideline, Nicholls got the ball to Emani White on the wing well beyond the 3-point line. White’s last-ditch jumper missed wide left, allowing the Lady Demons to hold on and maintain at least a share of the Southland Conference lead.
Northwestern State entered the day tied with Lamar atop the conference standings.
Perez finished with a game-high 24 points, her fifth 20-point effort in the first seven conference games. Lee added 17 – 16 in the second half – while Attura’s 16 gave NSU its third double-figure scorer.
Jenny Nash hit five of her seven 3-point tries to lead Nicholls with 20 points. Shay Arnick bulled her way to 18 points while Marina Lilly added 12 for the visiting Colonels.
The Lady Demons conclude their season-long, three-game homestand Saturday when they host McNeese State at 1 p.m. At halftime of Saturday’s game, the annual NSU Gumbo Cook-Off will be held.
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Central Arkansas 53, New Orleans 46
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Central Arkansas was 10 for 12 from the free throw line in the 2nd half, including knocking down six in the final 45 seconds, as the Sugar Bears pulled away late from New Orleans for a 53-46 win at Lakefront Arena to snap a three-game losing streak.
In a tightly-contested game in which the teams were separated by five points or less for more than 37 minutes, the Sugar Bears (10-8, 3-3 Southland) were able to keep the Privateers (2-13, 0-6) at bay in the final minutes by converting free throws and stifling the UNO offense on every crucial possession down the stretch, not allowing a basket until an inconsequential layup with two seconds left.
The Privateers briefly threatened and appeared to have swung momentum on an Octavia Wilson steal with 1:32 remaining and UNO down by three. However, Kelsey McClure answered just a few seconds later by jumping into the passing lane to intercept a UNO pass, then pushed the ball down the floor, dishing to Kendara Watts for a layup to push the lead to five with 1:20 to go.
The Privateers cut it to three once again after a pair of free throws, but UNO then began intentionally fouling the Sugar Bears to send them to the line with 46 seconds left. From there, UCA closed it out by making its next five from the line, with Brianna Mullins hitting four in a row and McClure knocking down the first of two.
UCA got 16 points each from Watts and Maggie Proffitt, with Proffitt hitting 4-of-9 from 3-point range to push her career total to 103 – making her the 14th Sugar Bear in program history and 4th in the Division I era to reach the 100 3-point field goal milestone. During the game, Proffitt passed former Sugar Bear point guard and current assistant coach Destinee Rogers and former Sugar Bear all-american and assistant coach Caronica Randle on the career list. She now ranks 3rd in UCA's Division I history and is tied for 11th overall all-time.
The win moves UCA to 2-0 in the series against the Privateers, who have yet to record a conference win in 24 games since joining the Southland last season. UNO makes the return trip to the Farris Center on Feb. 7.
After playing their last three on the road, the Sugar Bears come home to the Farris Center for three of their next four, beginning with Nicholls on Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the men's game between the schools to follow. Defending Southland tournament champion Northwestern State comes to Conway on Tuesday.
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