Ayres’ career day helps Lady Demons to win at HCU, SLC Tournament berth

HOUSTON – A career-high performance from Sharna Ayres and enough late-game poise led Northwestern State to a 64-55 win at HCU on Saturday and a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament.

In one of their cleanest offensive performances since the early conference schedule, the Demons (10-16, 6-9) committed 13 turnovers while maintaining their high-efficiency offense by shooting more than 40 percent from the field to pick up their first win in HCU’s Sharp Gym since 2019-20.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “The biggest thing was we had 13 turnovers, which was better than the goal we set for today, and shot better from the free throw line. Those things made a big difference down the stretch. Road wins, any wins for that matter, are hard to come by so I’m proud and excited to tell them they’ve earned their spot in the tournament.”

Ayres’ started her career day with seven points in the first quarter helping lead NSU to a 13-11 lead after the first 10 minutes, where NSU scored the final four points of the quarter while holding HCU scoreless over the final three minutes.

The strong finish to the first was bested by an even stronger finish to the first half. NSU converted on four of their final five shots of the half to take a late 32-26 lead with less than a minute to go.

Jenny Ntambwe scored on two straight layups before Ayres knocked down her third triple of the half to finish the first 20 minutes with a game-high 13 points. Ntambwe had nine points and four rebounds at the break.

“We tell her all the time how tremendous she is as a shooter,” Nimz said about Ayres. “We win ball games when she shoots, contested or uncontested, and she has to be able to get those kinds of shots off. We need that from her and we need everybody to do their job and filling their role really well.”

Ayres 5-for-10 effort from the field, and 3-for-8 mark from deep, led NSU’s 46 percent team field goal percentage going into the half.

After the Huskies took the lead to start the third quarter with five quick points, the Demons responded with a 9-0 run to take it back. Ayres made back-to-back baskets in the middle of the run that was capped by a steal from Nia Hardison and fast break runout layup from Karmelah Dean.

NSU held its lead the rest of the quarter, but saw it shrink to one point after going scoreless for the final four minutes of the period and HCU ending the quarter on a 6-0 run with all six points coming from the free throw line.

The Demons scored on three of their first five possessions of the fourth quarter to stretch the lead back to nine with Dean making two free throws with 3:56 left to put NSU up 58-48, the largest lead of the game.

Five HCU points in the span of 30 seconds cut the lead in half with one of the few turnovers of the game leading to a layup the other way that made it a three-point affair with 1:47 left.

In her first game back from injury in three weeks, Jiselle Woodson sank two critical free throws to stem the HCU momentum and push it back to a two-possession game. The Demons forced a turnover on the ensuing possession and Ayres hit the dagger shot with less than a minute to establish a new career high and all but seal the win.

“My dad told me this as a child and I thought about it the other day when I talked to him,” Ayres said. “He said play like you’re driving a car. Don’t be in the passenger seat be in the driver’s seat. That was a great reminder for me to play the game how I know to play. So I took that initiative and drove the car today.”

She led all scorers with 24 points with Dean and Ntambwe also reaching double-digits on the day with 15 and 11 points respectively.

With the win NSU secured its spot in the SLC Tournament in Lake Charles. After Saturday’s game they sit as the No. 7 seed in the tournament, one game behind Nicholls and New Orleans who are tied for the No. 5 seed.