LAKE CHARLES-- McNeese women's basketball will travel to Niceville, Florida Monday and Tuesday to take part in the inaugural Patrick Harrington Classic that will be played on the campus of Northwest Florida State College. Fans can listen to both Cowgirl games on the McNeese Radio Network (Cajun Radio 1470/1290 A). Live streaming and live stats will not be available.
The tournament is in memorian of the late women's basketball coach at Northwest Florida State College who tragically died in a car accident in 2014.
The native of Boston, Massachusetts and a graduate of Rollins College in Central Florida, Harrington spent time as a high school coach in his hometown, then as an assistant at Colorado, Oregon State and New Orleans, among other places. Harrington spent four years at Northwest Florida where he produced a 98-25 career record with back-to-back National Final Four appearances.
McNeese (5-4) will open tournament play against Alabama (9-1) at 7 p.m. (CT) on Monday, Dec. 19. The Cowgirls will go up against its former head coach in Brooks Donald Williams, who left McNeese to become an assistant at Alabama at the end of last season. The Cowgirls will conclude tournament play with a 5 p.m. (CT) game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
The Cowgirls return to the court following a five-day layoff after defeating UL-Monroe 78-52 on Dec. 13 for their first road win of the season. The tournament games will be the third and fourth of five straight roads games for McNeese until they return home Jan. 2 to host Stephen F. Austin. The Cowgirls will travel to Northwestern State on Dec. 31 for its Southland Conference opener.
McNeese will look to continue its hot shooting from three-point land after making 11 treys in each of its last two games. Five Cowgirls have made at least 10 three-pointers so far this season. Seniors
Victoria Rachal and
Amber Donnes have both made 14, freshman
Mady Brasseaux had 13 on the year, sophomore
Dede Sheppard has 12 and freshman
Regan Bolton has 11.
Rachal continues to lead the team in scoring with 10.5 ppg. while junior
Frederica Haywood leads with 9.1 rpg. Haywood is coming off her second double double of the season against UL-Monroe after scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Haywood ranks 13
th in the nation with 5.0 offensive rebounds per game and is 13 shy of moving into 5
th place in McNeese career rebounds.
Senior
Amber Donnes, who is second on the team in scoring with 9.6 ppg., leads the Cowgirls with 1.9 steals. Donnes has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and is tied for a team high with 14 three-pointers.
Freshman point guard
Caitlin Davis has given the Cowgirls an added scorer in addition to dishing out the ball. Davis is coming off a 12-point game with a season high seven assists.
Alabama holds a 3-0 series record over McNeese with the last game being played on Nov. 23, 2010 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
