LAKE CHARLES – Mireia Yespes scored 23 points and Emilia Tenbrock added 12 to lead McNeese but UIW capitalized on a strong second quarter and escaped the Legacy Center with a 61-48 win over the Cowgirls Saturday afternoon in Southland Conference women's basketball action.
 
The loss was the 15-straight suffered by the Cowgirls who fall to 4-24 overall and 0-15 in league play. UIW improved to 17-9 and 10-5 in the league while remaining in the hunt for a bye in the postseason league tournament.
 
UIW jumped out to an 11-2 run early on but the Cowgirls stormed back with an 8-0 run to cut the margin to 11-10. A jumper by Tenbrock with eight seconds to play pulled McNeese to within 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Cardinals controlled the second quarter by knocking down 57% of their shots, including a whopping 7 for 8 from three-point range as the lead grew to 40-24 at the half.
 
McNeese turned the table in the third quarter by outscoring UIW 12-6 and holding the Cardinals to just 3 of 16 shooting in the frame. But McNeese was only able to close the gap to 46-36 by the end of the period due to making only 2 of 8 from the field. The Cowgirls connected on all eight free throws that helped them win the period.
 
The Cowgirls were never able to get the deficit into single digits in the fourth quarter as UIW held on for the win.
 
McNeese made just 14 of 44 (32%) from the field for the game with several of those wide-open looks. The Cowgirls sank just 2 of 15 for 13% from three-point range. UIW sank 22 of 54 shots (41%) and made half of its 20 three-point attempts.
 
 Aliyah Collins led the Cardinals with 15 points while Nina De Leon Negron added 14.
 
The Cowgirls will be back in action on Thursday when they host HCU at 7 p.m. in the Legacy Center.