HOUSTON, Texas—McNeese women's basketball fell short in its comeback against Houston Baptist here Saturday, falling 68-61 in its regular season finale. The Cowgirls will head to Katy, Texas next week as the fourth seed in the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament and will face the winner of game one between No. 5 UIW and No. 8 Nicholls at 11 a.m. Friday. With the win HBU claimed the outright regular season title and will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
 
McNeese (13-14, 8-6 SLC) was led in scoring by Le'Shenae Stubblefield's 11 points while Kyla Hamilton came off the bench to score 10. Divine Tanks led the Cowgirls with five rebounds.
 
The Cowgirls led 17-14 after the first quarter but HBU (16-9, 12-2 SLC) outscored McNeese 26-7 in the second quarter behind four three-pointers and took advantage of the Cowgirls' 25 percent from the field to lead 40-24 at the half.
 
The Huskies continued its hots shooting from behind the arc in the third quarter and held as much as a 19 point lead including four three-pointers in the quarter to lead 59-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
McNeese made a valiant effort late in the game, cutting a 16-point lead down to single digits with 1:20 to play following a Taylor Wilkins three-pointer to cut the lead to nine points. Wilkins then cut the lead to seven on next Cowgirl possession but HBU used the free throw line in the closing seconds to secure the win.
 
 
2022 Southland Conference Tournament (March 10-13/Katy, Texas-Merrell Center)
WOMEN'S SEEDS 
No. 1 – HBU (16-9, 12-2 SLC)
No. 2 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19-9, 11-3 SLC)
No. 3 – Southeastern (14-10, 10-4 SLC)
No. 4 – McNeese (13-14, 8-6 SLC)
No. 5 – UIW (9-16, 5-9 SLC)
No. 6 – Northwestern State (12-13, 5-9 SLC)
No. 7 – New Orleans (4-17, 3-11 SLC)
No. 8 – Nicholls (4-21, 2-12 SLC) 
 
WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE 
First Round – Thursday, March 10, 2021
11 a.m. - Game 1 - No. 5 UIW vs. No. 8 Nicholls (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 2 - No. 6 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 New Orleans (ESPN+) 
Second Round – Friday, March 11, 2021
11 a.m. - Game 3 - No. 4 McNeese vs. Winner Game 1 (ESPN+)
1:30 p.m. - Game 4 - No. 3 Southeastern vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN+) 
Semifinals – Saturday, March 12, 2020
1 p.m.- Game 5 - No. 1 HBU vs. Winner Game 3 (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. - Game 6 - No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Winner Game 4 (ESPN+) 
Championship – Sunday, March 13, 2020
1 p.m. – Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (CBS Sports Network) 
 
Tickets for the 2022 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament can be purchased here.