Kennedy era begins at McNeese with win at UAPB

PINE BLUFF, Ark.—McNeese women’s basketball kicked off the Lynn Kennedy era with a 65-60 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff here Tuesday night in a hard fought win in front of a nearly sold out and energetic crowd.

“To get a win in this environment against a good team says a lot of where we can go as a team,” said head coach Lynn Kennedy.

Junior Desirae Hansen led McNeese with 13 points while Kaili Chamberlin came off the bench to pitch in 10 points.

As a team, the Cowgirls (1-0) shot 50.0 percent from the field and free throw line along with 43.5 percent from behind the arc.

As a team, McNeese canned 10 of 23 treys with Hansen making three of her five attempts. Chamberlin and Clara Rosini knocked down two apiece.

McNeese opened the game by taking a 22-17 first quarter lead then took a 34-31 lead into the half.

The Cowgirls opened the second half on a 10-0 run that included two 3-pointers by Hansen and layups by Zuzanna Kulinska and Cristina Gil within the first two minutes of the third quarter to lead 44-31.

McNeese held its double digit lead until late in the third quarter when the Lady Lions cut it to single digits twice at 50-42 and then to end the third period 52-44.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff kept chipping away at the Cowgirl lead and got as close at two points (54-52) with 5:58 to play but another Cowgirl run (10-2) gave the Cowgirls a little cushion with 2:10 to play.

“They made a run in the second half but we stayed composed. We are learning to play through ups and downs of the game. I thought we really locked down defensively in the last five minutes of the game.”

The Cowgirls defense came up big in the final minutes of the game, giving Arkansas-Pine Bluff only one possession several times late in the game and coming away with huge defensive rebounds.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff placed three players in double figures with its leading scorer from a year ago, Khadijah Brown leading all players with 25 points. Joyce Kennerson scored 13 and Sade Husdon had 11. Brown also grabbed 13 rebounds to complete her double double.

McNeese will host Southwestern Assemblies of God this Saturday, Nov. 13 in its home opener. Tipoff is set for noon at Burton Coliseum.