Cowgirls fall to Texas A&M-Commerce

LAKE CHARLES — Missed opportunities and turnovers proved costly here Saturday in McNeese Women’s Basketball Southland Conference 79-71 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce. McNeese turned the ball over 23 times, resulting in 28 A&M-Commerce points.

The loss drops the Cowgirls to 4-10 overall and 1-2 in league play while A&M-Commerce improved to 5-10 overall and remained undefeated in the SLC at 3-0.

For the second straight game, McNeese had three players score in double figures with Desirae Hansen (18), Kaili Chamberlin (13), and Divine Tanks (11) all scoring 10 or more points. Tanks and Le’Shenae Stubblefield led the way with six rebounds apiece.

The Lions also had three players score in double figures and two scoring 20 plus points. Dyani Robinson led all players with 29 points, Laila Lawrence had 20 and DesiRay Kernal ended with 12.

McNeese held a 45-37 halftime lead behind a 62.1 field goal shooting percent, making 18 of its 29 attempts. The Cowgirls had two players in double figures at the half with Kaili Chamberlin with 13 on 5 of 7 including two three-pointers. Desirae Hansen had 12 at the half on 4 of 6 attempts including 3 of 5 three-pointers.

The Lions also shot well from the field in the first half (51.7 percent) on 15 of 29. Dyani Robinson was 7 of 11 from the field with 17 points at the half.

A&M-Commerce opened the second half by scoring the first nine points to take a 46-45 lead. A Falkowska jumper with 5:46 ended the Cowgirl scoring drought.

McNeese tied the game at 49 but another run by the Lions gave them a 62-55 lead after the third quarter. The Cowgirls didn’t help their cause by turning the ball over eight times in the third quarter alone and A&M-Commerce scored 12 points off those turnovers.

The Cowgirls opened the final quarter by scoring the first five points to pull to within two points (64-62) following a Divine Tanks layup.

McNeese trailed 68-66 with 5:12 to play but were outscored 13-3 the rest of the way.