LAKE CHARLES—McNeese women's basketball couldn't overcome a 15-point halftime deficit here Sunday in its 70-59 home opening loss to Louisiana-Lafayette at Burton Coliseum.
McNeese (0-2), once again struggled from the field early on and trailed by 17-8 after the opening quarter.
"We struggled to put the ball in the hole early in the game but settled down in the second half," said head coach
Kacie Cryer. "The biggest thing we are seeing is they are rushing their shot. The need to calm down and let the game come to them. I'm proud of the way we battled and this group is going to continue to get better each time we take the floor."
UL-Lafayette (1-1) led by Ty'Reona Doucet, was unstoppable as the sophomore from Ville Platte was the only Cajun to score in double figures. She ended the game with a double double (29 pts., 22 reb.) to lead all players in both categories.
McNeese placed four players in double figures with
Callie Maddox leading the way with 16 points with 10 of them coming from the charity stripe.
Regan Bolton scored 12 and
Divine Tanks and
Sky Jasper chipped in 10 apiece.
Maia Robinson came off the bench to lead the Cowgirls with seven rebounds.
The Cajuns continued to build on their first quarter lead and led by as much as 20 midway through the second quarter before heading into the half with a 35-20 lead.
McNeese came out in the second half with a full-court press and caused the Cajuns to turn the ball over seven times in the third quarter, cutting the lead to single digits (39-30) with 4:23 left in the stanza. Maddox spearheaded the McNeese third quarter scoring six of the Cowgirls' first 10 points of the quarter from the free throw line.
The Cajuns responded by outscoring the Cowgirls 12-7 the rest of the way to lead 51-35 after the third quarter.
The Cajuns continued to pound the ball inside to Doucet and when the Cajuns missed their shots, Doucet or another Cajun was there to grab the rebound. ULL scored 20 second chance points and 26 in the paint.
McNeese did make a late game run and cut the lead down to eight (65-57) with 1:13 left in the game but fouled each time the Cajuns got the ball in the remaining minute of the game. The Cajuns scored their final five points of the game from the free throw line.
McNeese ended the game shooting 33.9 percent from the field and 78.8 percent from the free throw line and committed 17 turnovers.
UL-Lafayette shot 31.3 percent from the field and 68.4 percent from the free throw line but outrebounded McNeese 56-37 including 22 offensive rebounds.
"We challenged the kids to get aggressive on defense and to get in the passing lanes in the second half. For us to force 17 turnovers and for us to only have 11 after having 30 at Grambling on Friday, is a huge improvement for this group," Cryer said.
The road doesn't get any easier for McNeese anytime soon as the Cowgirls will travel to No. 11/8 Texas Thursday.
"Obviously, I'm challenging them early in the season with tough competition but that will help us come conference time."
