Lady Demons in town to face Kats
1/22/2019 4:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game 16
Wednesday, Jan. 23 • Huntsville • 6:30 p.m. • Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
Sam Houston State (8-7, 3-2 Southland) vs Northwestern State (6-10, 1-4 Southland)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsWBB on Twitter • Purchase Tickets
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State women's basketball team returns to Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum looking for its second straight victory in conference play when it hosts Northwestern State on Wednesday night.
The game is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum and can be watched on ESPN3 with Matt Pedersen on the call and Matt Trent providing analysis. Fans can follow along via live stats, or get updates by following @BearkatsWBB on Twitter.
The Bearkats led nearly wire-to-wire on Saturday in a 74-63 win at Houston Baptist behind four players in double figures. Dominique Maxwell had a career game, posting 17 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs, for the first double-double of her career.
Lydia Baxter, who ranks third in the Southland with 7.9 rebounds per game, hit 10-for-14 from the foul line and finished with 14 points and 14 boards.
The win gave Ravon Justice's team its eighth win of the year, surpassing its combined total for the last two seasons, while its third victory in league play has the Kats sitting all alone in sixth place in the standings with 13 games left on the slate.
The Kats forced 17 HBU turnovers on Saturday and are third in the league in forcing 22.1 turnovers per game. One of the teams ahead of the Kats is Northwestern State, who leads not only the Southland, but all of the NCAA with 26.0 forced turnovers per game.
Jordan Dupuy's Lady Demons are coming off a 72-63 loss to Abilene Christian and have lost four of their five league games to date, albeit against four of the teams ranked in the top five of the league standings.
Kira Bonner paces three Lady Demons in double figures with an average of 11.3 points per game average, while RaVon Nero is averaging 11.0 per game.
SERIES vs NORTHWESTERN STATE
One of the longer-running rivalries for Sam Houston State has been its Southland Conference matchup with Northwestern State. The teams have met 61 times since the 1984-85 season, a rivalry that predates the either team's inclusion into the Southland Conference.
Northwestern State leads the series 41-19 after holding off the Bearkats, 63-60, in Natchitoches in the most recent meeting (Jan. 17, 2018). In that game, Northwestern State's Jasmyn Johnson set career highs with 21 points and six steals as the Lady Demons defeated Sam Houston State for the fourth time in the past six meetings.
NSU has won 17 of the 29 meetings in Huntsville but dropped the most recent game there, falling 92-73 on Feb. 23, 2017.
