Women’s Basketball — Bonner’s bench boost lifts Lady Demons to season sweep of Houston Baptist

HOUSTON – A rough-and-tumble first half Saturday afternoon gave way to a more appealing second half for the Northwestern State women’s basketball team.

Behind a resurgent second-half offense, the Lady Demons snapped a five-game losing streak with a 54-46 Southland Conference victory at Houston Baptist, giving Aaron A. Swinson his first win as NSU’s interim head coach.

“We really worked hard the last few days,” Swinson said. “I put them through a big test when we arrived here (Friday night). It was one of the hardest practices I’ve seen and done with them, and they weren’t expecting it. I told them, ‘Today’s practice will be harder than tomorrow’s game. If you get through this practice, the game should be easier.”

Coming off the bench for just the second time this season, Kira Bonner had 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter as the Lady Demons (6-16, 3-10) erased a one-point halftime deficit.

Bonner’s first points of the third quarter came on a 3 off a Gabby Bell feed that put the Lady Demons ahead for good with 6:59 remaining in the quarter and held on to complete the season sweep of the Huskies (5-16, 1-11). Northwestern State won the first meeting between the teams 69-60 in Natchitoches on Jan. 5.

“As a team, we knew we had to come out and play hard, because it’s crunch time,” Bonner said. “It’s the end of the season. Everyone’s trying to get that spot in (the) conference (tournament). As close as we are, we knew we had to come out with a chip on our shoulder. Individually, I was playing a role I wasn’t used to, so it took me some time to get going. I just had to push through some adversity. I knew what I had to do.”

Swinson said he challenged Bonner in Friday’s practice and was eager to see how she responded.

“Before the game, as I was in there talking, I told her, ‘You have to make a difference coming off the bench. Give me a reason to start you in the second half,’” Swinson said. “If you’re not working hard in practice, you’re not going to play. She wasn’t working hard in practice, so I put her on the other team. She started competing, but my decision was already made. In order for us to be a very good team, you have to change the culture, and it starts with me. I’m pleased with what we have from the results we had but not overly pleased. I know we can still give more.”

After hitting 8 of 28 first-half shots, Northwestern State rebounded to connect on 11 of 28 attempts in the second half. More importantly, the Lady Demons limited the Huskies to 32.7-percent shooting from the field.

No Huskies player reached double figures as NSU kept every opposing player from reaching at least 10 points for the first time since doing so against Central Baptist on Dec. 20, 2017.

“(Defense) has been one of our many Achilles’ heels,” Bonner said. “Seeing us do that shows us how quickly we can turn the season around in crunch time.”

Northwestern State dominated the backboard, outrebounding Houston Baptist by 16 (48-32). It marked the third time in conference play the Lady Demons had grabbed at least 10 more rebounds than their opponent and gave NSU its largest rebounding advantage since an 18-rebound advantage against LSU-Alexandria on Nov. 22, 2017.

Jasmyn Johnson, who joined Bonner in double figures with 11 points, tied a career high with seven rebounds while Lacee Savage snared a game-high eight boards.

Johnson hit a critical early fourth-quarter 3-pointer up against the shot clock that stymied the Huskies’ momentum and kept the Lady Demons charging toward their first road win of the season.

“I knew it was our day,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know how much time was on the shot clock, but everyone was screaming at me, so I just shot it.”

The Lady Demons complete a three-game road trip Wednesday night at Incarnate Word. Tip time is set for 6:30 p.m. at the McDermott Convocation Center.