Next Game:
at Houston Christian
1/15/2026 | 6 PM
ESPN+
KZBL 100.7 FM
Jan. 15 (Thu) / 6 PM
at Houston Christian
NATCHITOCHES—Tiara Abron tied a season-high 18 points, as Northwestern State put forth a dominant second half to pull away with a 65-49 victory over visiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
NSU (8-7, 5-2) rebounded from the loss last time out against UTRGV by out-scoring AMCC (2-12, 1-6) 41-24 in the final 20 minutes after trailing by one at halftime.
“It was a great bounce back win,” head coach Anna Nimz said. “I thought the girls showed a lot of toughness today. It was pretty slow in the second quarter but we came out from halftime ready to go and they re-grouped from the last loss and got it together. I am happy we were able to do it in front of the home crowd and on Fork Cancer night. I am just overall proud of the group.”
Abron scored all 18 points in the final 20:03. In the first 19:57, she missed all three of her field goal attempts, but made six of her final eight shot attempts, starting with a 3-pointer to end the half and cut the deficit to one at recess.
Nya Valentine drove to the free throw line and kicked it out to Abron for an open left-wing triple, which she buried, to cut the Islanders lead down to 25-24 at the break, starting the Demons run.
“That last shot I made going into halftime, that is what turned me up,” Abron said. “We all fed off that last play going into half and we continued to go from there.”
The Demons used that momentum to take control in the second half. Starting with Abron’s 3-pointer to end the half, it jumpstarted a 13-4 run, spanning the two halves to take a 37-29 lead and AMCC never cut the deficit to under five the rest of the way.
After shooting 34.6 percent in the first half, NSU shot a blistering 60 percent in the second half, including 4-for-8 from deep.
For the game, the Demons shot 47.1 percent for the game, the best mark this season in a game against a Division I opponent.
In the second half, the Demons scored on seven of their first 11 possessions, including three of their first four.
Clarence Djuela started it off with a layup before an AMCC basket from Samora Watson, who recorded a game-high 22 points, gave the lead back to the visitors.
A triple from Carla Celaya, who posted her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, buried a triple two possessions later to give the home team a lead it never relinquished.
NSU shot 57.1 percent in the third quarter and shot even better in the fourth, making shots at a 63.6 percent clip from the field to pull away, starting once again with a big bucket from Abron.
As good as the offense was in the fourth, the defense put the clamps down late. After a triple from Watson cut the Demons lead to 55-47, NSU held AMCC to without a point on six straight possessions, going 0-for-3 with two turnovers and a pair of free throws were also missed during that stretch.
Overall, NSU held AMCC scoreless for 4:33 until a layup from Trinity Slocum with three seconds left finished the game.
While the defense was holding down the Islanders offense, NSU scored on five straight possessions during that span, as the Demons increased the lead to 65-47.
Four Demons finished in double figures, led by Abron’s 18. She was joined by Valentine (15), Celaya (11) and Djuela (10).
It is the first time since the Southland Conference opener that NSU has had four reach double digits in scoring.
The 49 points allowed marks the third game the Demons have held a DI opponent under 50 points in a win this season. It is the second time in three seasons they have done that.
Now the Demons head on the road for three consecutive games, starting with a trip to Houston Christian on Thursday. The next game at Prather Coliseum is against East Texas A&M on Jan. 24.