McNeese women blow out UIW

SAN ANTONIO — McNeese women’s basketball dominated Incarnate Word in every facet of the game here Thursday night in a 69-34 Southland Conference win to extend its winning streak to four games.

“This was a team win tonight,” said head coach Lynn Kennedy. “Our defense was locked in right from the start. We contested every shot and really took them away from their game. We had great flow on offense and we were able to create matchups that worked in our favor.”

McNeese (8-11, 5-3 SLC) produced its best offensive game of the season, ending the game with a 58.1 field goal percent. McNeese was 25 of 43 from the field including 8 of 16 three’s and dominated the glass, outrebounding UIW 40-25.

Paris Mullins came off the bench to pick up her first career double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Mullins was 4 of 5 from the field including a three-pointer that resulted in a four-point play after getting fouled. Mullins pulled down 10 defensive rebounds on the night.

Cristina Gil also came off the bench to score 10 points, her highest point total since coming back from an injury. Gil was 4 of 6 from the field and perfect from behind the arc with two.

With the scored tied at four apiece early in the game, Le’Shenae Stubblefield’s free throw gave McNeese a 5-4 lead midway through the first quarter and the Cowgirls never looked back.

UIW (7-11, 2-6 SLC) was held to an 18.9 field goal shooting percent and didn’t have a players score in double figures.

Myra Bell, Destiny Terrell, and Jorja Elliot all led UIW with 17 points apiece. Nina DeLeon who entered the game as the Cardinals’ leading scorer with an 11.4 ppg. average was held to two points.

McNeese will remain on the road and will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against league leading Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

1st- With the Cowgirls leading 12-9 seven minutes into the game, the Cowgirls went on a 12-2 run the rest of the quarter to lead 24-11 after the first period.

2nd- McNeese opened the quarter by scoring the first seven points to extend their lead to 31-11. The Cowgirls went onto outscore the Cardinals 15-5 in the quarter to take a 40-16 lead into the half. McNeese ended the first half shooting 61.5 percent from the field, making 16 of 26 attempts from the field and were 5 of 10 behind the arc. The Cowgirls defense held UIW to 16.7 shooting percent on 4 of 24 from the field. The Cardinals scored seven of the 16 points from the free throw line in 10 attempts.

3rd- McNeese continued to dominate the game and held a 16-12 third quarter advantage to lead 56-28 at the end of the period. The Cowgirls continued its hot shooting as they were 4 of 9 from the field that included three 3-pointers.

4th- Another good quarter by the Cowgirls as they continued to dominate. Coach Kennedy was able to empty his bench in the quarter to allow the rest of the reserves to get playing time. McNeese ended the game by outscoring UIW 13-6 in the quarter.

NOTES
• McNeese extended its winning streak to four games • The win over UIW is the third in the last four meetings dating back to last season • The Cowgirls produced their best field goal shooting percent of the season (58.1) • McNeese outrebounded UIW 40-25 • 13 of the 14 Cowgirls that dressed out saw playing time • Paris Mullins and Cristina Gil came off the bench to lead the Cowgirls in scoring.
• Mullins led McNeese with 11 points and 12 rebounds to record her first career double double • Gil scored 10 points and dished out three assists