LAKE CHARLES—McNeese junior Damilola Balogun led McNeese women's basketball with her fourth double double (12 pts., 13 reb.) of the season and the third straight win for the Cowgirls with an 81-71 win over Houston Baptist.
 
"We are finding ways to win," said head coach Kacie Cryer. "Today it was our defense. We held them scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter today. Even when we weren't scoring, we made stops and a then found ways to score."
 
McNeese (5-13, 3-4 SLC) held the lead from the opening three-pointer by Callie Maddox and held a 21-15 edge after the first period. The Cowgirls built on their lead in the second quarter behind a 66.7 field goal and three-point field goal percent to take a 41-29 lead into the half. The Cowgirls ended the first half with a 53.3 field goal percent and 71.4 from three-point range.
 
"We shot the ball really well today and that was a total team effort, I'm really proud of our girls for staying with things even though the game got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter," Cryer said.
 
The Cowgirls held their largest lead in the third quarter of 17 points four times in the third period with the last 17-point lead coming following a Maia Robinson layup with 4:45 left in the quarter.
 
HBU (6-11, 1-6 SLC) made an early run in the fourth quarter to get within 10 points (65-55) with 7:04 let in the game but the Cowgirls responded and pushed their lead back up to 14 points with 2:21 left.
 
HBU continued to foul McNeese late in the game and the Cowgirls took advantage of the freebies by scoring its last nine point from the free throw line to seal the win.
 
Balogun was joined in double figure scoring with three other Cowgirls. Maddox led McNeese with 23 points, Regan Bolton scored 14, and Divine Tanks also had 12.