HAMMOND—McNeese women's basketball put together a good second half of shooting and three players scored in double figures in a 78-57 Southland Conference win over Southeastern Louisiana Thursday.
 
"Our girls really responded tonight," said head coach Brooks Donald Williams. "I am proud of their defensive effort. Amber (Donnes) set the tone for us early with her energy and we all fed off of her. I was glad to see the toughness on the boards and on the defensive end," said Williams.
 
Allison Baggett led all players with 21 points on 8 of 15 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line.  Baggett was 1 for 7 in the first half but came back to make 7 for 8 of her shots in the second half.
 
Amber Donnes, the Hammond native returned to her familiar surroundings and scored 18 points including 4 of 7 from three-point range.  Donnes ended the game making 7 of 15 from the field to go along with six rebounds.
 
Jayln Johnson chipped in 13 points and was 4 of 6 from the free throw line.  Johnson, who ranks third in the SLC in assist, ended the game with seven.
 
After shooting 29.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Cowgirls bounced back to shoot 56.3 percent in the second half (18 of 32).  McNeese scored 26 of their points in the paint and outrebounded Southeastern La. 43-35.
 
Frederica Haywood grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds with six coming on the offensive end. Talisa Boyd was credited with seven and Ann Nwosah picked up five.
 
McNeese opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take its largest lead of the game of 10 points (38-28) at that point.  SE La. responded with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the Cowgirl lead in half.  McNeese never gave up the lead and held as much as a 20-point lead with 2:17 left on two free throws by Johnson and then again with 1:07 on a layup by Boyd.
 
McNeese played through a sluggish first of shooting (29.3 percent) from the field to take a 32-28 lead into the half.
 
Southeastern La. scored the games first four points on jumpers by Elizabeth Styles.  Hammond native Amber Donnes got the Cowgirls on the scoreboard with her first of three 3-pointers of the half to cut the SE La. lead to 4-3.  Allison Baggett was fouled while attempting a three and Baggett sank all three free throws to give McNeese their first lead of the game four minutes into the game.
 
After the Lady Lions tied the game at six all on a layup by Jameika Hoskins layup, Talisa Boyd's jumper gave McNeese the lead for good.  The Cowgirls extended their lead to seven points on back-to-back treys by Jayln Johnson and Donnes with less than 10 minutes in the half.
 
Nanna Pool entered the game for SE La. and scored the next six points to cut the Cowgirl lead to one (18-17) but the Cowgirls responded by scoring the next seven points on a jumper by Baggett, a three by Hannah Cupit and a Mercedes Rogers jumper to push the Cowgirl lead to 25-17.  McNeese took its largest lead of nine points on another Donnes three.
 
"To finish this road swing 3-1 is a great accomplishment for this group. I am proud of their fight on the road and look forward to them continuing to work to get better," Williams said.
 
McNeese (11-8, 5-3 SLC) ends a four game road swing with a 3-1 record and will return home Saturday to host New Orleans in a 4 p.m. game.