Women’s Basketball — Hometown hero Johnson helps spark NSU to routof ULM

MONROE – Jasmyn Johnson put together perhaps her best all-around performance minutes away from her home.

She had plenty of help as well.

Johnson set career highs in points and steals, joining three other Northwestern State players in double figures as the Lady Demons rolled past state rival ULM, 70-48, on Sunday afternoon.

“That was the most complete game we’ve played,” second-year head coach Jordan Dupuy said. “They threw some things at us to try to get us off balance, but we stayed calm and collected.”

Johnson and fellow sophomore Gabby Bell played key roles in keeping the Lady Demons (4-3) under control.

Playing just across the Ouachita River from her hometown of West Monroe, Johnson snapped the game’s only tie with a first-quarter 3-pointer that put NSU ahead to stay with 8:41 to play in the first quarter.

Johnson finished with 13 points and five steals, jumpstarting a defense that forced 25 turnovers and produced 14 steals.

“It felt good to see the first one go down,” said Johnson, who played in front of a group of approximately 40 friends and family that sat across from the Lady Demons bench. “I told myself I needed to get one to fall. It felt good to come back to my hometown and play again. It brought back old memories.”

While the Lady Demons’ defense flummoxed ULM (2-4), the NSU offense was equally as efficient.

Five times in the game, Northwestern State worked the shot clock down and scored with less than 3 seconds left in the possession. Included among them was a Leah Barnes layup with 3 seconds left in the first half that gave the Lady Demons a 31-21 lead at the break.

“Our execution in the half-court was unbelievable,” said Dupuy, whose team posted 22 assists on 28 baskets while committing 15 turnovers. “We made the extra pass. We ran a set we called to run off some time. It was huge for us. Our point guard play was extremely good. Gabby Bell had eight assists to one turnover, and anytime your point guard can do that, you’re going to score a lot of points.”

Bell notched a career high with those eight assists, adding eight points. In the second half, Bell had four assists and did not commit a turnover, helping the Lady Demons shoot 51.6 percent in the second half.

Bell and the Lady Demons were able to break the ULM press and found success against the secondary defense, allowing NSU to connect on a season-best nine 3-pointers.

“If you have a fighting mentality, you can go out and get the victory,” said Bell, who Dupuy called ‘truly amazing.’ “I just had to stay poised and calm and not get frazzled by their press. I think we’re poised as a team, which allowed us to get buckets on the other end.”

Libba Gilliam paced Northwestern State with 14 points while Johnson, Nautica Grant (12) and Cheyenne Brown (10) also turned in double-figure scoring efforts.

It was Gilliam’s second straight double-figure scoring effort against the Warhawks, counting the 11 points she scored in the 2016-17 season meeting. Behind that balanced scoring and tough defense, NSU scored its first road victory of the season, equaling its total from a season ago.

“It was a huge day for us,” Dupuy said. “We controlled the game pretty much from beginning to end. We had great contributions from the bench. We did a great job of countering what they did. This is just one, but you can see what can happen when we prepare the way we did today.”

The Lady Demons will enjoy a six-day break to start finals week before returning to action in the Cenla Showdown against Texas Southern. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Rapides Parish Coliseum.