NATCHITOCHES, La. – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team cruised to a 79-60 victory over Northwestern State University on Wednesday night. This win, combined with a loss from Texas A&M – Commerce against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi gave the Cardinals a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed heading into the Southland Conference Tournament next week. UIW is set to play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 7 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.

"I'm not sure I can adequately put into words how proud I am of this team and our staff," said head coach Jeff Dow. "To start out 0-3, win 10 of our next 15 and close the season on a six-game winning streak is a testament to how hard they have worked and the confidence and belief they have in themselves. Obviously it's important that we prove to ourselves that we can win away from home so it's also encouraging that we won our last four conference games on the road."
 
As the Cardinals extend their win streak to six, one common factor is double-digit scoring from several different players on the floor. Breelyn Sanborn led the charge with 15 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point land. Myra Bell added 12 points, while Brenna Perez finished with 11 points and Aliyah Collins had 10. Nina De Leon Negron finished the night with nearly a triple-double, putting up 11 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists.

"I love seeing the balance scoring we got tonight. Five players in double figures and two others with nine and eight. Nina was outstanding again and was one assist shy of a triple-double. Bree gave us a huge lift obviously with 15 points in only 18 minutes and only seven shot attempts. Myra was solid again with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals. Brenna knocked down all five of her free throws on her way to 11 points. Aliyah once again gave us a spark off the bench and had zero turnovers. And it was great to see Destiny Terrell back on the court and making energy plays."
 
The Demons got off to an early lead, but Sanborn knocked down back-to-back-to-back treys at the end of the first to tie the game at 20.  With three minutes left in the second, a 3-pointer from Bell put the Cardinals ahead, 33-32 before UIW headed into halftime with a four-point edge (40-36).
 
UIW didn't look back for the remainder of the game, holding the lead until the very end and outscoring the Demons 15-10 in the third and 24-14 in the fourth.

"Four of our freshmen played 89 of the 200 minutes...19, 19, 21 and 31. That obviously speaks to the progress they've made and it's certainly bodes well for the future. Kaylee Howell had arguably the best game of her young career and was tremendous in the second half when we started to get some separation."

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