NATCHITOCHES, La. — After Wednesday's loss at Stephen F. Austin, Central Arkansas finds itself in unfamiliar territory – having dropped two of its last three games. The Sugar Bears will look to get back on track and attempt to avoid their first back-to-back Southland road losses since 2015 when they take on Northwestern State at 1:00pm at Prather Coliseum.

The game will be the first half of a doubleheader, with the Bears and Demons to follow at 3:00.

Wednesday night's loss to the league-leading Ladyjacks was a rarity, as the Sugar Bears (14-6, 7-2 Southland) have been nearly flawless on the road in conference play in recent past, winning more than 92 percent of their Southland games away from Conway – compiling a 24-2 record in road and neutral-site games since the 2015-16 season.

It was at the end of the 2015 season, with losses at Nicholls and McNeese on March 5 and 7, that the Sugar Bears last suffered consecutive road defeats. They will try to avoid a similar fate on Saturday against a Lady Demon squad that has had its struggles this season – entering Saturday with a 6-13 overall mark and 1-7 in the Southland – as they have suffered a trio of season-ending injuries and have been without leading scorer Cheyenne Brown for much of the season. Brown, who averaged 14.9 points per game last season, missed the first five games this season before returning for the next six – in which she averaged 13.5 points and 4.2 rebounds – but has since been shelved for the last seven with no timetable set for her return.

Though they have just a single Southland win – a 63-60 victory over Sam Houston State – four of the Lady Demons' seven league losses have been by just over 6 points per game, including a 70-62 loss to SFA, which defeated the Sugar Bears by 13 on Wednesday.

The Sugar Bears return to the building where they clinched their share of last season's Southland regular-season championship – their first win in the last five trips to Prather Coliseum. The last three meetings in Natchitoches have been decided by an average of just 5.7 points per game.

Nautica Grant leads the Lady Demons with 11.3 points per game and had scored in double figures in seven straight games – averaging 13.3 per game – before being held to six against New Orleans on Wednesday. In averaging 14 points per game in Southland play, Grant has connected on 42.6 percent of her 3-pointers while NSU as a team has made 36.7. Libba Gilliam is the only other Lady Demon averaging double figures, scoring 10.2 per game, including a 30-point outing against Southeastern Louisiana last weekend.

After Saturday's tilt with the Lady Demons, the Sugar Bears will be off from mid-week action and return to play next Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana before coming home to take on Houston Baptist on Feb. 7 in the Farris Center.

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NOTES
• The Sugar Bears are 43-6 against Southland teams over the past three seasons, an .878 winning percentage
• During that span, the Sugar Bears are 5-0 following a loss, with an average margin of victory of 22.4 in those games
• Last season against NSU, Taylor Baudoin averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds, including a 23-point, 7-rebound effort in Natchitoches. Kierra Jordan averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds
• Though the Sugar Bears are the Southland's top 3-point shooting team for the season at 34.6 percent, they are just 6 of 32 (18.8 percent) over the last three games. NSU has the best 3-point percentage defense in the league, with opponents making just 29.1 percent