LAKE CHARLES-- McNeese women's basketball upset preseason Southland Conference favorite Stephen F. Austin 73-67 in its Southland Conference opener Saturday in front of the largest crowd to see a Cowgirl game in Burton Coliseum this season.
 
"This was a great team win and fantastic start to the conference season," said head coach Brooks Donald Williams. "We have a great deal of respect for Stephen F. Austin and their players and staff but hats off to our girls' effort from start to finish."
 
The crowd of 1,046 also witnessed Allison Baggett's 1,000^th career point. The junior from Iota, Louisiana reached the milestone midway through the first half to give McNeese a 21-12 lead. Baggett became the 14^th Cowgirl to score 1,000 career points.
She was one of three Cowgirls to score in double figures, ending the game with 22 points.  Junior Jayln Johnson led the Cowgirls with 25 points and Amber Donnes pitched in 11.  Senior Talisa Boyd led McNeese with 11 rebounds.
 
McNeese (7-5, 1-0 SLC) jumped out to an early 5-2 lead with Donnes scoring five of the Cowgirls' first seven points.  McNeese held the lead the entire game and held as much as a 12-point lead in the first half.  The Cowgirls went into the half holding a 34-25 lead.
 
Stephen F. Austin (7-5, 0-1 SLC) came out in the second half and scored first on a Porsha Roberts layup to cut the lead to seven.  McNeese went on a 13-6 run to take its largest lead of the game (14 points) five minutes into the second half. 
 
Stephen F. Austin slowly cut into the Cowgirl lead and with the Cowgirls holding a slim one-point lead with 4:52 to play, Donnes came up big by canning back-to-back treys to up the Cowgirl lead to seven.  SFA countered by going to Roberts who scored SFA's next six points to cut the McNeese lead to two points with 1:41 to play.
 
"Their extra work in the gym during the holidays is paying off and I'm so glad they are able to see the results," said Williams. I love their mindset right now. We were focused today on the task at hand. We fought through their runs and just continued to battle."
 
Johnson scored the next four Cowgirl points on two free throws and a layup to bring the Cowgirl lead back up to six points with 47 seconds left in the game.  SFA's Ross made a layup then stole the inbounds pass and made another layup to cut the lead to two points with 40 second left.  A jumper by Baggett and two free throws by Johnson sealed the victory for the Cowgirls.
 
Roberts ended the game with a double-double, her tenth of the season with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.  Taylor Ross scored 14 and Tierany Henderson added 11.
 
McNeese will remain home to host Houston Baptist in a 5:30 p.m. game on Monday.