Nassau, BAHAMAS—McNeese women's basketball opened the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship with an 83-63 loss to No. 23 West Virginia in the first of two games for the Cowgirls.
McNeese will face Belmont at 10 a.m. (CT) Wednesday morning in the consolation game of the Goombay Division. Belmont fell 68-56 to Ohio State earlier Monday. Belmont wad ranked No. 11 in last week's CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll.
The Cowgirls (3-2) placed four players in double figures with
Arianna Patton leading the way with 17 points. Patton cored 15 of her 19 points from behind the arc, making good on five her 9 three-point attempts. Jalencia Pierre scored 12,
Dakota Howard had 11 and
Lexi Alexander scored 10. Alexander, Howard, and Sibley all led McNeese with four rebounds apiece.
West Virginia had five players in double figures and was led by Kierra Wheeler's double double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
Wester Virginia held its largest lead of 21 points with 5:15 left in the game with the Mountaineers scoring 23 of its points from the free throw line. West Virginia was 23 of 30 from the free throw line while McNeese was 4 of 6.
McNeese shot 42.6 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three-point range making seven of 17 treys.
West Virginia shot 56.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range, connecting on 6 of 14 attempts.
1st QUARTER
• West Virginia scored the first 14 points of the game to lead 14-0
• McNeese started the game 0-3 them made its next five baskets and went on a 15-3 run to cut the lead to 18-15 with two minutes left in the quarter
• West Virginia held a 20-17 first quarter lead
• Cowgirls shot 57 percent in the quarter on 7 of 14 from the field including 12 points in the paint
West Virginia: 20, McNeese 17
2nd QUARTER
• The Mountaineers extended its lead to 28-17 in the first four minutes of the quarter.
• McNeese cut the lead to eight (30-22) on a free throw by
Carley Hamilton with 4:25 left in the quarter
• West Virginia took their largest lead of the quarter- 14 pts. (39-25) with 1:09 left
• McNeese shot 21.4 percent from the field in the quarter while WV shot 70.0 percent from the field.
• West Virginia's Gia Cooke had 15 first half points
• Jalencia Pierre led McNeese with seven points at the half
West Virginia: 41, McNeese 28
3rd QUARTER
• West Virginia opened the second half by outscoring McNeese 7-3 to take a 17-point lead (48-31), but the Cowgirls cut it to 13.
• Another Mountaineer run extended the lead to 17 points with 5:35 left in the quarter
• McNeese scored the next five points to cut the lead to 12 (52-40)
• West Virginia took its largest lead of the game (62-42) with 1:29 left in the quarter and then led by 20 after the third quarter
West Virginia 65, McNeese 45
4th QUARTER
• The closest McNeese got in the quarter was 16 points (70-54) with 6:08 left in the game
FINAL: West Virginia 83, McNeese 63
Upcoming Games
Nov. 24-26 Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship
Nov. 26 vs. Belmont (10 a.m.) CT
Dec. 2 at Utah Tech
Dec. 5 at Arizona State (Briann January Classic/Tempe, Ariz.)
Dec. 6 vs. Nevada (Briann January Classic/Tempe, Ariz.)
Dec. 12 *East Texas A&M (5 p.m.)
SLC Game; Home game in BOLD
