Athletics

NATCHITOCHES -- Defending Southland Conference women's basketball champion Northwestern State was sluggish early but scored 30 unanswered points sandwiched around halftime Thursday night as Amanda Bennett's 20 points and 10 rebounds led the Lady Demons over LSU-Shreveport 86-51 at Prather Coliseum.

Northwestern (3-2) used a dozen players, sitting out last year's leading scorer Diamond Cosby with a sprained ankle, and 11 scored for first-year coach Jennifer Graf. Chassidy Jones added 14 points and six rebounds, Sheronda Bell had 12 points, six assists and six rebounds, and Shenise Milliner contributed career highs of 11 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

LSU-Shreveport (3-5) got 14 points from Trish Phillips and 10 by Renalda Stafford. The Lady Pilots weathered a game-opening 7-0 burst from the Lady Demons and battled back, hitting over half their shots during a stretch with eight lead changes.

LSU-S took its final lead on a 3-pointer by Phillips with 6:50 left in the first half for a 31-29 edge, but didn't score for the next 9:15 while Northwestern ended the half with 23 straight points and scored the first seven after halftime to blow the game open, 59-31.

"I wasn't nervous in the first half. I was too upset with my team to be worried," said Graf. "We showed a lot of immaturity the way we played the first 14 minutes. That was unacceptable and in conference games, that would cost us. Fortunately we did finally begin to create some turnovers and we hit some shots and got control of the game."

Bennett scored 13 of her points in the 30-0 run by the Lady Demons, 10 in the final 6:50 of the first half as Northwestern took command with a 52-31 halftime lead. The 5-11 senior forward from Simpson, last year's SLC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a first-team All-SLC pick, flirted with a quadruple-double, adding a career-best six steals and five assists to her double-double for scoring and rebounding.

"Amanda got back in gear in our last game out in California (scoring 27 against St. Mary's in a two-point loss last Saturday), and she's such a tough competitor that when we needed a lift, she was right there for us," said Graf. "We had some good contributions throughout the lineup, but we left a lot of room for improvement. We've got to be better."

NSU takes a nine-day break for final exams before resuming play at home Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11, with a 2 p.m. contest against Arkansas-Monticello. A week later, the Lady Demons visit Texas A&M.
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LSU-SHREVEPORT (3-5)

Stafford 4-17 0-1 10, Monette 1-4 0-0 2, Pena 2-3 0-0 4, Hogg 0-6 1-4 1, Castle 3-6 0-0 6, Phillips 5-12 2-2 14, Neck 1-3 -0 2, Cooper 0-1- 0-1 0, Cardinal 2-5 1-3 7, Spyhalski 0-1 0-0 0, Cryer 2-4 1-2 5, Hicks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-62 5-13 51.
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NORTHWESTERN STATE (3-2)

Bell 4-8 2-3 12, Clark 2-8 2-2 6, Jones 7-16 0-0 14, Sparkman 3-5 1-2 7, Bennett 7-15 4-5 20, Davis 1-2 0-0 1, Tallant 1-1 0-0 2, Farriel 0-0 4-6 4, Favors 2-6 2-2 6, Milliner 3-6 5-7 11, Isom 0-0 0-0 0, Matthews 1-7 0-2 2. Totals 31-74 20-29 86.

Halftime-NSU 52-31. Fouled out-Pena. 3-point goals-LSUS 6-24 (Stafford 2-9, Pena 0-1, Hogg 0-4, Castle 0-1, Phillips 2-6, Cooper 0-1, Cardinal 2-2), NSU 4-12 (Bell 2-5, Jones 0-1, Bennett 2-6). Rebounds-LSUS 42 (Spyhalski, Castle 5), NSU 53 (Bennett, Milliner 10). Assists-LSUS 11 (Pena, Phillips 2), NSU 25 (Farriel 7). Total fouls-LSUS 23, NSU 19. A-655.