By Jonathon Leach, Northwestern State Assistant Director of Communications; featured photo by Jailen Leach, Nicholls Athletics
THIBODAUX—In big games, the team’s players have to bring their best. Mya Blake got the memo.
After spotting Nicholls eight points out of the gate, Northwestern State (11-10, 8-4) stormed back with the help of Blake, who scored a game-high 32 points, to overtake the Colonels (15-7, 8-5) and earn a convincing 68-60 victory on Thursday evening at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium.
“I am so proud of this team sweep,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “After the 5-minute mark when we got down eight, I simply told them to stop playing scared and settle in. And they absolutely did.
“Mya was tremendous, again! However, everyone did great! Players made big plays all night either on offense or defense. We didn’t shoot overly great from the perimeter but we had great looks and great execution. They just didn’t fall. When those good looks connect, this group is scary.”
The win matched last year’s win total and more importantly, the Demons earned a big sweep over Nicholls to surpass the Colonels in the standings and give them the tiebreaker, should the teams end the season tied.
Northwestern State shot 0-for-5 and turned the ball over six times in the first five and a half minutes of the game, which led to an 8-0 hole right out of the gate.
The Demons were looking for a spark. Enter Blake.
The senior scored seven points in a row in less than two minutes to cut the Nicholls lead to one, and Blake scored all 10 Northwestern State points as the Demons trailed 11-10 after one.
Blake made a triple to end the quarter, which started a 22-4 spurt to take control of the game and the Demons never relinquished the lead.
She dropped in 18 of her 32 in the first half, leading Northwestern State to a 33-25 lead at the break.
It is her third game scoring at least 30 points this season, all of which have come during SLC play.
Late in the first half, Nicholls leading scorer Tanita Swift was injured and forced her to miss the rest of the game. Prior to her injury, the Demons defense was stifling, limiting Swift to just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Britiya Curtis, who scored a team-high 20 points, began the second half with a basket with a foul to cut the Demons lead to five, but that was as close as the Colonels made it.
Curtis buried 3-pointers to end both the second and third quarters to cut the deficit to eight points on both occasions, but Northwestern State fought right back and did not let the Colonels go on a run.
Northwestern State put the game away with a 9-4 spurt to begin the final period, highlighted by five from Sharna Ayres, to force a Colonels timeout.
Ayres, the graduate student from Australia, tallied 13 points, one of three Demons to reach double figures, joining Blake and Vernell Atamah (10 points).
Atamah also added eight rebounds.
The lead remained double digits until a Paris Miller 3-pointer to cut it to 66-57 with 32 seconds remaining.
In the first half, Northwestern State turned the ball over 11 times but did so just four times in the final 20 minutes to pull away. The Demons turned Nicholls over 18 times and turned those into 23 points.
Even though she didn’t record a point, Carla Celaya posted five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The Demons finish the road trip with a visit to in-state rival McNeese on Saturday before coming back home for a pair of games against the SLC’s best, starting with Lamar on Feb. 13.
“Demonland, get out to Prather to support this group of women for our final five home games,” Nimz said, as her team aims for at least one bye during the SLC Tournament.
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