The Lady Lions fell to Northwestern State University Lady Demons, leaving one Lady Lion posting her 11th double figure of the season.

The Lady Lions played Thursday Feb. 28 in the university center at 5 p.m. in the ESPN3 contest, losing with a score of 58-73. The Lady Lions now hold a record of 8-18 and 7-7 in the Southland Conference.

The Lady Lions were led by senior forward Aja Gibson and junior guard Annessa De La Cruz, who scored 16 points each. Sophomore forward Nanna Pool posted her 11th double figure of the season with 10 points and a game-high of 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Erica Hernandez added 10 points, while junior guard Elizabeth Styles chipped in with a team-high of six assists.

According to Head Coach Lori Davis Jones, the practices were not to the best of the player’s abilities and that showed in the game played tonight.

“We practiced poorly all week, we talked about how we have to pick it up in order to be good come game time, but we didn’t respect the process,” said Jones.

According to Jones, the players weren’t focused during practice and that showed during game time.

“We didn’t focus on the practices to become better during game time, we were not sharp in practice this week, and that is the outcome of the first half,” said Jones.

The Lady Lions began lagging behind 15-37 in the first half and weren’t able able to bounce back from the difficult standing.

Jones expressed how there were no strengths shown tonight.

“I don’t think we showed strength because when you have strength you show it in tough times and good times,” said Jones. “We didn’t show anything in the tough times tonight.”

Senior forward Aja Gibson gave some insight on how she thinks the game went.

“First half we couldn’t get our offense going, second half I believe we got our offense going,” said Gibson. “We just needed to get stops. They still continued to score but we scored as well, so offensively we found our rhythm.”

Gibson talked about some things the team needs to work on for Saturday’s game.

“Saturday’s game they are a little bigger, so we have to be sure to box out and come out from the start ready to get stops,” said Gibson.

Jones shares the team’s room for improvement as they prepare for Saturday’s competition.

“It is going to be a mental strategy because we have to figure out how to be tougher than Stephen F. They are way more physical and way faster than the team we saw tonight, said Jones.

“Northwestern put it to us; they did a very good job tonight no doubt about it,” said Jones.

“I’m glad the game is over. We just have to bounce back and move on,” said Jones.

The Lady Lions host the Lady Lumberjacks on game will be Sat. March 1 at 2 p.m. at the University Center against Stephen F. Austin State University.

The last home game will be March 3 at 1 p.m. at the University Center against Abilene Christian University. For more information on the Lady Lions visit Lionsports.net.