Northwestern State tops Houston Baptist to open Southland competition
Northwestern State 78, Houston Baptist 68
HOUSTON, Texas – At the beginning and in the end, Janelle Perez was there to deliver what Northwestern State needed.
Perez scored 12 of her career-high 30 points in the final 3:46 Friday afternoon at Sharp Gym, helping Northwestern State pull away for a 78-68 victory against Houston Baptist in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
While Perez set a career high in scoring, she had plenty of help. Chelsea Rogers connected on five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 19 points and Keisha Lee had all 11 of her points in the second half, as Northwestern State (6-6, 1-0) erased a two-point halftime deficit.
Perez and Rogers were two of three Lady Demons who notched career-high scoring performances Friday, as Arianne Ausmer came off the bench to hit 7 of 8 free throws and finish with nine points. Ausmer also grabbed a season-best and team-leading eight rebounds.
The depth of offensive and defensive performances allowed NSU to quiet Houston Baptist’s Shanice Steenholdt, who entered the game leading the conference in scoring (19.7 points per game) and rebounding (11.1 per game).
Steenholdt finished with seven points and six rebounds, as NSU turned aggressive defensively, forcing 20 turnovers.
Trailing by two at halftime, the Lady Demons saw Houston Baptist (6-6, 0-1) score 10 of the first 14 points of the second half. NSU responded with a 6-0 run, keyed by Lee, who was scoreless in seven first-half minutes before scoring her 11 second-half points.
The game stayed in a six-point window for much of the rest of the second half before NSU salted things away with an 11-0 run from the 4:23 mark until 1:15 remained in the game.
Perez (seven points) and Ausmer (four points) combined to do all the scoring in the run, during which NSU built its largest lead of the game, 71-60, with 1:27 to play.
The late run allowed NSU to survive a career night from Houston Baptist’s Monet Neal, who scored 28 points and grabbed game-high 18 rebounds.
The Lady Demons conclude their season-long, four-game road trip Monday at Sam Houston State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game is the opener of a doubleheader, with the NSU men following against Sam Houston.