LAKE CHARLES—McNeese women's basketball suffered its first Southland Conference loss here Wednesday night at the hands of Nicholls by a score of  63-43.
 
McNeese (4-8, 4-1 SLC) were without head coach Kacie Cryer and assistant coach Patrece Carter who both missed the game due to COVID 19 protocol. Assistants Amanda Clemons and Grant Fontenot took over for Cryer and Carter.
 
The Cowgirls got off to a cold shooting start and never got on track as Nicholls (6-8, 5-2 SLC) held a 14-6 first quarter lead and then a 27-17 halftime lead.
 
The Cowgirls were getting the shots they wanted, the shots weren't falling like they have in the past four games.
 
McNeese scored the opening basket of the game off a Le'Shenae Stubblefield layup but Nicholls tied the game on the next possession on a layup by Chyna Allen then took the lead on a Terris McKay layup and never relinquished the lead.  
 
Both teams traded three-pointers to open the third quarter and McNeese got as close as four points (35-31) following back to back three-pointers by Lizzy Ratcliff and Claralee Richard with 4:41 left in the quarter. But a Nicholls 10-2 run to end the quarter put the Colonels up 45-33.
 
Nicholls opened the final quarter with another scoring run (16-2) to extend the lead to 61-35, its largest lead of the game.
 
McNeese ended the game shooting 29.2 percent from the field while Nicholls shot 44.2 percent from the field and scored 34 points in the paint.
 
Richard led the Cowgirls with 13 points and Divine Tanks in her first game back after missing the last two games recorded a double double with 12 points and a game high 15 rebounds.
 
Nicholls had four players score in double figures and was led by Anna McKendree's game high 15 points off the bench. McKay ended the game with 14 points and Chelsea Cain also recorded a double double (13 pts., 12 reb.). Rounding out the double figure scoring for Nicholls was Adrian Mann, who finished with 11 points.
 
McNeese will travel to Lamar this Saturday for a 2 p.m. game that will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
 
ASSISTANT COACH AMANDA CLEMONS QUOTES
"Tonight, was just a tough night. We couldn't get shots to fall. We know that when you start the game off by scoring six points in the first quarter, it's going to be a little rough for the rest of the game. We felt fairly good heading into the second half knowing we held them to 27 points. Nicholls went on a couple of scoring runs and we just didn't answer. We didn't put the ball through the basket and Nicholls came out and did what they were supposed to do tonight. They were a great team and they handled themselves and were patient and we just did not do the little things that have helped us get to the point leading up to tonight's game."
 
 
FIRST QUARTER
McNeese got off to a cold start from the field, making only 3 of their 19 attempts in the quarter while Nicholls shot 50 percent from the field (6 of 12). Nicholls 14, McNeese 6
 
SECOND QUARTER
Neither team shot the ball well to begin the quarter. The Cowgirls started 1 of 6 from the field on a three-pointer by Shaela Gardner that ended a six-minute scoring drought that started in the third quarter. Nicholls started the quarter 1 of 7 from the field. The Cowgirls were only outscored 13-11 despite shooting 35.7 percent from the field. Nicholls 27, McNeese 17
 
THIRD QUARTER
Both team traded three-pointers and the Cowgirls got as close as four points (35-31) on back to back three-pointers by Lizzy Ratcliff and Claralee Richard with just over four minutes left to play in the quarter. From this point, Nicholls went on a 10-2 run the rest of the quarter. Nicholls 45, McNeese 38
 
FOURTH QUARTER
Nicholls continued to build on its lead behind a 16-2 run to open the quarter to take its largest lead of 61-35 with 4:11 left in the game. Nicholls 63, McNeese 43  
 
 
NOTES

• Cowgirls were without head coach Kacie Cryer and assistant coach Patrece Carter due to COVID 19 Protocol
• The loss is McNeese's first conference loss of the season
• Two Cowgirls scored in double figures (Claralee Richard, Divine Tanks)
• Tanks returned to the court after missing the last two games due to COVID protocol. The junior from Lake Charles recorded a double double tonight (12 pts., 15 reb.)
• The Cowgirls leading scorer, Kyla Hamilton was held scoreless and Le'Shenae Stubblefield who has scored 20 or more points in the last two games was held to four points