NEW ORLEANS—Sophomore Dede Sheppard came off the bench to lead McNeese women's basketball team with 15 points in an 82-65 loss at Tulane here Wednesday night in the Cowgirls' first road game of the season.
 
McNeese falls to 4-2 on the year while Tulane improves to 5-1 and improves its home winning streak to seven games, dating back to last season.
 
Sheppard who was 6 of 17 from the field including two three-pointers was one of four Cowgirls to score in double digits. Junior Frederica recorded her first double double of the season by tying her season high with 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jasmyn Carswell chipped in 12 points and Amber Donnes added 11.
 
Tulane started the game off like the Cowgirls have done in their previous five games, by jumping out to a quick lead. The Green Wave scored the first five points of the game but the Cowgirls answered by scoring the next five to tie the game.
 
The Green Wave took advantage of their height and scored 26 of their first half points in the paint and scored 12 second chance points.
 
The Cowgirls struggled with the press in the second half but still managed to cut the lead to four points in the third quarter and then again early in the fourth quarter before Tulane scored nine straight points to take a 13 point lead with seven minutes to play. The Cowgirls managed to cut the lead to single digits on a Donnes three-pointer with 1:55 left in the quarter.
 
Tulane caught fire behind the arc early in the fourth quarter to take its first 17-point lead behind back-to-back three's by Meredith Schulte and Kolby Morgan but the Cowgirls answered with five straight points by Sheppard. Sheppard nailed a three-pointer then scored on a layup to cut the lead to 12 (70-58). Tulane would outscore the Cowgirls 12-7 the final five minutes of the game by breaking the Cowgirl press and scoring easy layups.
 
The Cowgirls didn't shoot the ball as well as it has in previous game, ending the night shooting 34.6 percent from the field, 24.1 percent from the arc and 33.3 percent form the free throw line. The Cowgirls were 2 of 6 from the free throw line while Tulane was 10 of 17.
 
Tulane outrebounded McNeese 47-35 and ended up scoring 50 of their 82 points in the paint. McNeese scored 28 of their points in the paint and got 34 points from its bench.
 
McNeese will return home Sunday to host Louisiana Tech at 2 p.m. in its Toys 4 Tots game. Fans are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate.