NATCHITOCHES – Jalencia Pierre scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half including eight in the fourth quarter and McNeese's No. 1 defense in the nation forced two critical turnovers in the final minute as the Cowgirls defeated Northwestern State 64-59 to match the most Southland Conference wins in a season at 15 (15-1).
 
McNeese's overall mark improved to 21-4 as the win provided redemption to the Cowgirls' loss to NSU earlier in the season, the only blemish in conference play, as McNeese won for the 14-straight time. It also snapped a six-game losing streak to the Lady Demons and marked the first win in Natchitoches since February 2021.
 
NSU fell to 11-12 and 8-7.
 
Arianna Patton led the Cowgirls with 15 points followed by Pierre's 14 and Dakota Howard with 12 to go along with nine rebounds.
 
Patton came up big for the Cowgirls leading 60-56 with 51.1 seconds to play when she forced a Lady Demon turnover by Tiara Abron and led to a McNeese free throw and a 61-56 lead.
 
Another turnover by the Lady Demons followed when an inbounds pass was thrown out of bounds, then three straight fouls by NSU sent the Cowgirls to the free throw line where McNeese sank three of four attempts to go up 64-56 with 14 seconds on the clock.
 
NSU's Joceline Geara knocked down a 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play to complete the scoring.
 
McNeese led 29-23 at the half after a 13-4 run over the final 4:41 lifted the Cowgirls from a three-point deficit to a six-point advantage.
 
The Cowgirls forced the Lady Demons into 11 turnovers in the half and scored 16 points off the miscues.
 
McNeese built an early 13-7 lead with 2:02 to play in the first quarter but NSU battled back with a 12-3 run to go up 19-16 with 4:41 to play in the second quarter before the Cowgirls finished off the half on the run and ending with a Patton three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
The Cowgirls came out in the third quarter hitting their first three shots, including Patton's fourth three-pointer of the game, but build their largest lead of the night at 36-28 with 8:25 on the clock.
 
The Lady Demons answered with a 9-0 run while the Cowgirls went scoreless for nearly three minutes as NSU grabbed a 40-38 lead at the 5:45 mark.
 
The Cowgirls closed out the last 5:45 on a 12-2 run sparked by eight points scored from Kaili Chamberlain's two three-point goals and a fast break layup off a turnover and the Cowgirls led 50-42 heading into the final period.
 
McNeese forced NSU into 20 turnovers, scoring 26 points. For the game, McNeese connected on 25 of 60 from the field for 42 percent and made 6 of 15 for 40 percent from long range.
 
NSU made 23 of 53 for 43 percent and 9 of 17 for 53 percent from long range.
 
The Cowgirls will stay on the road for a visit to East Texas A&M on Saturday with tip-off at 2:30.