McNeese women open Southland play by defeating UCA

LAKE CHARLES—McNeese women’s basketball picked up its first win of the season and more importantly opened Southland Conference play with a 59-45 win over Central Arkansas Saturday.

McNeese (1-7, 1-0 SLC) placed three players in double figure scoring with Kyla Hamilton leading all players with a career high 15 points. Hamilton was equally as impressive on defense, ending the game with eight steals, one shy of tying the McNeese single game record.

Also scoring in double figures was Claralee Richard with 13 and Mychala Linzy with 11.

The Cowgirls defense caused UCA (2-7, 0-1 SLC) to turn the ball over 32 times and McNeese scored 23 points off those turnovers.

McNeese held UCA to six points in the first quarter and nine points in the second quarter, taking a 35-15 lead into the half. The Cowgirls shot 51.9 percent from the field and 50 percent (5-10) from three-point range in the first half. The Cowgirls never trailed in the game and held as much as a 22-point lead in the third quarter.

UCA cut the Cowgirl lead to nine points a few times in the fourth quarter but McNeese outscored the Sugar Bears 5-1 in the final two minutes of the game on the way to victory.

“This is a big win for us and a momentum builder,” said McNeese coach Kacie Cryer. “This is huge; they are so excited right now. We have been through a lot and have been grinding it out but haven’t gotten the results we wanted. This group of girls deserve this win.

“We shot the ball well in the first half and we played good defense today. We aren’t looking back at what we did in the preseason, we are focusing on conference games right now.”