NATCHITOCHES—Paris Mullins' jumper was just off the mark as time expired here Thursday in a 62-61 McNeese women's basketball Southland Conference loss to Northwestern State in a game that went back and forth the entire 40 minutes.
 
McNeese (4-11, 1-3 SLC) dropped its eighth road game of the season despite having a few chances down the stretch to either tie the game or take the lead.
 
Both teams placed three players in double figures with Zuzanna Kulinska leading McNeese with 13 points.  Divine Tanks scored 11, and Stephanie Guihon had 10.  Tanks also led the Cowgirls with nine rebounds.
 
NW State (6-8, 2-2 SLC) was led in scoring by Jiselle Woodson's game high 24 points. Joelle Johnson scored 13 and Shelby Rayner added 11.  Jasmin Dixon led the Lady Demons with 10 rebounds including seven offensive rebounds.
 
McNeese shot 41.8 percent from the field but struggled from behind the arc, making only on of 11 attempts on the night.  NW State shot 41.4 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range, making good on 6 of 16 attempts.
 
The Cowgirls held a four point lead (60-56) with 2:09 left to play following a driving layup by Guihon.  After Guihon's layup, McNeese scored one point the rest of the way, that one point coming from one of two free throws by Desirae Hansen with four seconds left. 
 
McNeese came up empty in four out of its last six possessions of the game including three shots all in the paint that would have either tied the game of given the Cowgirls the lead.
 
The Cowgirls started the game off by making its first four shots from the field and six of its first eight shots of the game to end the quarter with a 50.0 field goal shooting percent.  McNeese held as much as a six point lead in the first quarter by a 7-1 run by NW State (6-8, 2-2 SLC) resulted in a 16 all game at end of the quarter.
 
NW State took a four point lead in the second quarter but a Guihon layup cut the lead to two points (32-30) and that would end up being the halftime score.  In the quarter, McNeese turned the ball over nine times that resulted in 11 NW State points while McNeese scored two points off seven NW State turnovers.
 
McNeese erased a two point halftime lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter to take a 38-35 lead midway through the quarter.  The Cowgirls ended the quarter on an 11-6 run to take a 49-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
NW State responded with a 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter to retake the lead (52-51) but a Mullins layup at the 4:47 mark gave McNeese a 53-52 lead. 
 
McNeese will return home Saturday to host Houston Christian in a 1 p.m. game.