LAKE CHARLES—McNeese women's basketball suffered a 75-59 Southland Conference loss to Abilene Christian Wednesday.
 
McNeese couldn't stop the three-point shooting of Abilene Christian in the first half and couldn't stop reserve Sydney Sheldstead in the second half.  ACU made season-high nine treys against a Division I opponent this season, with six coming in the first half.
 
McNeese (8-7, 2-1 SLC) struggled from the field early in the game but used its full court press to rattle the Wildcats late in the first half to hold a 39-36 halftime lead.
 
Allison Baggett was the only McNeese player to score in double figures for the Cowgirls, ending the game with 17 points.  She was 7 of 18 from the floor and made good on 3 of 11 three's.  As a team, the Cowgirls shot 36.4 percent from the field and 14.8 percent from behind the three-point line.
 
Abilene Christian (8-6, 1-3 SLC), who picked up their first SLC win of the season, started the game on fire.  The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first six minutes of the game.  ACU was 12 of 21 from the field in the first 11 minutes of the game including six three-pointers and held as much as a 15 point lead with 9:43 left in the half. 
 
McNeese used a full-court press and solid defense by its own reserves to cause ACU to turn the ball over. McNeese turned those turnovers into points. McNeese outscored ACU 24-6 in the final nine minutes of the half.
 
The Cowgirls continued to build on its lead in the first three minutes of the second half and held its largest lead of the game (10 points) on a three-point play by Talisa Boyd with 17:08 to play. ACU stormed back and went on to outscore the Cowgirls 36-10 the rest of the way.
 
McNeese took a brief lead two more times during that span, but Shelstead, who came off the bench and ended the game with a career night, lead all players with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Sheldstead gave ACU the lead for good on a layup with 9:34 left and the Wildcats built another double digit lead with 5:59 to play and held their largest lead of the game (18 points) with 59 seconds left.  
 
ACU had three other players join Shelstead in double figures. Lizzy Dimba scored 15 and twin sister Suzzy had 12.  Paris Webb rounded out the double figure scoring for ACU with 10.
 
McNeese will travel to Huntsville, TX. Saturday to face Sam Houston State in the first of four straight road games.