LAKE CHARLES—Fresh off a thrilling 65-63 road win over Central Arkansas on Wednesday, the McNeese women's basketball team will head up the road Saturday for its final regular season road contest against rival Lamar in a 4 p.m. game at the Montagne Center.
McNeese (15-10, 9-5 SLC) moved into sole possession of fourth place with the victory Wednesday and will look to stay in the top four heading down the stretch. The top four teams earn a first round bye in the Southland Conference Tournament. The top two teams earn double byes. The Cowgirls are one and a half games out of third place Nicholls with four games remaining on the schedule.
The Cowgirls have won their last three games, tying its longest winning streak this season.
Allison Baggett and
Jayln Johnson continue to lead McNeese on offense. Baggett leads the team and ranks third in the SLC in scoring with 16.5 ppg. She also leads the Cowgirls with a 34.4 three-point field goal percent and an 88.7 free throw percent.
Johnson is second on the team in scoring with 13.1 ppg. and is second in the SLC in assists, dishing out 5.2 assist per game. Johnson was the hero in the win over UCA after scoring the game-winning jumper with 3.9 seconds to play. She has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games.
McNeese's recent success lately can be attributed to its rebounding where the Cowgirls are outrebounding their opponents by a 13.3 margin in the last three games.
A huge factor in the rebounding margin is the play of freshman
Frederica Haywood. Haywood has elevated her game on the boards during this span. She has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in each of the last four games including a career high 20 against Southeastern La. Haywood is second on the team in rebounds with 6.8 per game and is averaging 16 per game in the last three games.
Senior
Talisa Boyd continues to lead McNeese with 7.2 rebounds and is coming off her fifth career double doubles (12 pts., 14 reb.) against UCA. Boyd is also averaging 6.6 ppg.
Lamar (14-11, 11-3 SLC) is coming off a 71-60 road loss at SFA Thursday that snapped a six game winning streak. The Cardinals are the league's top scoring team (70.5 ppg.) and free throw shooting team (74.3) but also lead the league in turnovers on an average of 22.2 per game.
The Lady Cardinals have two players averaging in double figures and are led by JaMeisha Edwards' 15.4 average. Edwards also leads Lamar with a 38.2 three-point field goal percent. Dominique Edwards is averaging 12.2 ppg. and leads the team with 8.0 rpg.
Both teams will turn around and play each other against next Thursday in Lake Charles.
