NATCHITOCHES, La. — Last January, in the first meeting of the season between Northwestern State and Central Arkansas, the Lady Demons took a 12-point lead into the locker room at halftime and appeared well on their way to their fifth straight win over the Sugar Bears.
Then Megan Herbert showed up.
Herbert exploded in the second half, putting up 17 points and 16 rebounds in the period – singlehandedly outscoring the Lady Demons by three – en route to a 24-point, 20-rebound outing that led the Sugar Bears to a come-from-behind 53-48 victory in Natchitoches.
The Sugar Bears went on to sweep the Lady Demons, scoring a 77-71 victory in Conway later in the season.
UCA (9-6, 1-1) comes into Saturday's meeting with the Lady Demons (7-8, 2-0) looking to make it three in a row over the divisional rival.
NSU has other plans as it aims for its fourth consecutive win and first 3-0 start in Southland Conference play in seven seasons as the Lady Demons attempt to reach a milestone with the 666th win in program history.
The Lady Demons have scored wins over Texas State and Nicholls to begin conference play, beating the Bobcats 81-66 in Natchitoches before defeating the Lady Colonels 70-67 in Thibodaux.
NSU is led by sophomore forward Trudy Armstead, who averages 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. Armstead had 18 points and 5 rebounds in each of last year's meetings with the Sugar Bears, shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
Two other Lady Demons are averaging double figures, with junior guard Jordan James putting in 10.9 points per game and senior guard Brittiany Houston 10.5. Houston also leads the team with 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Herbert, fresh off her best performance of the season with a 27-point, 18-rebound game against Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, leads the Sugar Bears with 16.1 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and is one of only eight players in the nation averaging better than 15 points and 11 rebounds.
In the Sugar Bears' first two conference games Herbert is averaging 21 points and 17.5 rebounds and shooting 82.4 percent from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Micah Rice has strung together her two best games of the season, averaging 18.5 points while shooting 50 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. In her last four games she is shooting 56.5 percent (14 of 23) on 3-pointers.
The Sugar Bears are 2-2 all time in Prather Coliseum – winning 74-60 in 2007 in their first trip to Natchitoches after joining the league. That was the last game in the career of current Sugar Bear assistant coach Caronica Randle. Randle finished with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals before fouling out with four seconds to play.
