LAKE CHARLES—McNeese women's basketball used a 20-5 scoring run early in the game and never looked back as the Cowgirls went on to pick up a 68-53 Southland Conference victory in the final game of a three game home stand at Burton Coliseum Saturday.
 
McNeese (8-7, 3-1 SLC), for the second game in a row, had a good day shooting as the Cowgirls ended the game shooting 40.0 percent from the field (24 of 46) and had four players scored in double figures including a double double by junior Frederica Haywood. Haywood scored a career high 17 points and pulled down a game high 13 rebounds as well. Haywood was unstoppable on the offensive glass where she grabbed 10 of her 13 rebounds. Joining Haywood in double figure scoring was Mercedes Rogers (13), Caitlin Davis (12) and Dede Sheppard (10).
 
As a team, McNeese dominated the boards by outrebounding Houston Baptist (3-11, 1-3 SLC) 48-31 with the Cowgirls picking up 20 offensive rebounds and 28 on defense. The Cowgirls took advantage of its rebounds by scoring 25 second chance points and 19 off 16 HBU turnovers.
 
"Once again this was a great team win and I'm pleased with our effort", said head coach Kacie Cryer. "Again we outrebounded our opponent and a lot of it is because of Frederica Haywood and Mercedes Rogers. This just shows the effort that we are displaying."
 
After the first quarter ended in a 16-16 tie after HBU's Lisa Zderadicka made a three-pointer as time expired, McNeese went on to outscore the Huskies 23-10 in the second quarter to hold a 39-26 at the half.
 
The Cowgirls held their largest lead of the game (54-24) in the third quarter on a layup by Sheppard with 1:08 remaining.
 
"We shot the ball well again from the outside and only made one three. That is good when you can pick up a win and make only one three-pointer," said Cryer.
 
Even though HBU outscored McNeese 15-12 in the fourth quarter, the Cowgirls had a comfortable lead in order to pick up their second straight win and their third in the last four games.
 
HBU's Shannon Jones led a trio of Huskies who reached double figure scoring with 13 points. Heidi Byrd and Sydney Carr chipped in 10 apiece while Taylor Kollmorgen led HBU with eight rebounds.
 
McNeese will have a week off before traveling to Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday, Jan. 15 for a 1 p.m. game