Offensive struggles cost NSU first game
NATCHITOCHES – A less than stellar night shooting the ball proved quite costly for Northwestern State as it suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday.
The Lady Demons (2-1) went 12-for-63 from the field in the game on a night where they once again forced more than 30 turnovers and had 25 offensive rebounds against the best rebounding team, in Jackson State (1-2), they’ve faced thus far this season.
“A lot of the shots we took weren’t bad shots,” coach Jorda Dupuy said after the game. “They came within the offense and came off ball movement. We knew we would have to make some outside shots, but we didn’t need to take 24 of them and miss 22.
“We went toe-to-toe with them from a rebounding perspective even though we lacked the size, we just didn’t make the shots. Everything that we saw tonight we had prepared for and it just comes down to players making plays.”
For the second straight game NSU found itself down multiple possession early. JSU won the tip and scored within the first five seconds of the game and jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Lady Demons found the scoreboard on their first of 30 free throw attempts in the game.
A 6-0 NSU run got the home team within one point late in the opening quarter, but the story of the night, missed chances, kept NSU from taking the lead when they had their best chances. Nine straight missed shots while trailing by one to end the first and begin the second allowed JSU to rebuild their lead to a more comfortable margin.
If the entire game had been played from the free throw line, it would have been a blowout in NSU’s favor. The charity stripe kept the Lady Demons in the game where they converted on 23-of-30 attempts on the night, including an 11-for-12 mark in the second quarter alone.
Those 11 free throws were the only points the Lady Demons scored in the second quarter. An 0-for-9 mark from the field in the second 10 minutes of the game allowed the Tigers to take a double-digit lead in the first half and go to the break leading 33-25.
The Lady Demon offense showed signs of life to start the second half. Baskets from Gabby Bell and Jocelyn Scott, with two more free throws by Victoria Miller made it a four-point affair less than three minutes into the quarter.
Those two buckets were the only two field goals NSU converted in the third quarter, giving JSU the opportunity to grow their lead back to double digits and hold a 47-34 advantage entering the final quarter.
NSU converted on six field goals in the fourth quarter, equaling their total from the first three, but it was too little too late on the night as the 19 percent effort from the field sealed the fate.
“We have to work on ourselves over the next couple of days,” Dupuy said. “It’s about us right now. Until we get better in the half court and change some things with ourselves, that can easily get corrected, we can’t worry about the next game.
“We’ve got to get lost in the process and win tomorrow and win the next day and so on. Our job is to get better every single day. If you’re getting better as an individual, then you’ve getting better as a team and the next game will take care of itself.”
The Lady Demons travel to UL Monroe next Monday for their first road game of the season before making a trip to West Texas to face Texas Tech the following Friday.
Photo Credit: Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
