Opponent: San Diego State
Date: Sunday, March 22
Time: 4 p.m. (CT)
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Jenny Craig Pavillion)
Watch: ESPN+

SAN DIEGO, Calif—McNeese women's basketball (29-5), will face No. 4 seed San Diego State (26-5) on Sunday at 4 p.m. (CT) in the second round of the WBIT.  The game will be played at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus due to the first two rounds of the NCAA Men's Tournament being held at the Aztecs home facility. The game will stream on ESPN+.

The Cowgirls picked up their first NCAA sponsored postseason win to advance to the second round with its 68-48 upset win over Texas A&M last Thursday in College Station, Texas.  The win over Texas A&M was also the first P4 win for McNeese since the P4 was formed.  The Cowgirls are also one of two teams to upset a No. 1 seed in WBIT this season. Eastern Kentucky defeated No. 1 seed Utah in the first round last Thursday to advance to the second round. 
 
McNeese has the best turnaround in Division I women's basketball this season.  The Cowgirls are currently at a 19-win turnaround, having won 10 games in 2024-25.

A win by McNeese would make them only the third Southland Conference team to win 30 games in a season, the last being Stephen F. Austin in 1989 with a 30-4 record.   

San Diego State, the Mountain West Conference regular season champions, who are making their third postseason appearance in the last four years (WBIT 2026, NCAA 2025, WNIT 2023), advanced to the second round with its 61-55 home win over UC Irvine.  The 26 wins for the Aztecs tied a school record.
 
McNEESE NOTES
• Making its sixth overall postseason appearance and first since 2016
• Advanced to two NCAA Tournaments (2011 and 2012) and four WBI Tournaments (2013, 2024, 2015, 2016)
• Southland Conference Regular season Champions.  It's the third regular season title  (1986, 2011, 2026) in program history.• Enter the game with a 29-5 overall record.
• The three non-conference losses came against Power 4 teams (two against the Big 12 (West Virginia, Arizona State) and one against an SEC team (Alabama).
• Won a school record 29th game with its 68-48 win over No. 1 seed Texas A&M last Thursday
• The win over Texas A&M is the first NCAA sponsored postseason win
• The win over Texas A&M is the first win over a P4 school since the P4 was established in 2014
• McNeese is one of two schools to defeat a No. 1 seed in the first round in WBIT history.  The other one is Eastern Kentucky who defeated Utah on Thursday as well.
• Have the best turnaround in D1 this season, McNeese is currently at a 19-win turnaround. Last season McNeese finished the season 10-21.
• Looking to become the third Southland Conference school to win 30 games in a season. Stephen F. Austin (30-4/1989); UL-Monroe (30-2/1985)
• Have won 22 of last 23 games
• It's the first 20-win season since 2016
• Won a school record 21 SLC games and are the first school to win at least 20 SLC games in conference history.
• Put together a program best 21 game winning streak from Dec. 29, 2025 to March 12, 2026.  At the time it was the third longest winning streak in the NCAA this season.
• The only conference loss the Cowgirls suffered this season was a 65-58 home loss against Northwestern State on Dec. 15, the second SLC game of the season.
• The six non-conference wins are the most wins since the 2015-16 season.
• The 9-1 SLC start this season is the best SLC start in the first 10 games since the 2010-11 team that also started 9-1.
• McNeese recorded at least 10 conference wins for the first time since 2016 with its 77-41 home win over UNO on Jan. 24, 2016
• McNeese has 13 newcomers, which ranks tied for fourth most in the NCAA. Three other teams (Northern Arizona, Indiana State, UL-Monroe) all have 13 newcomers. Of the 13 newcomers, nine are D1 transfers which is tied for most in the NCAA this season.
• All 13 newcomers are Guzzardo's former Southeastern players and recruits 
• Guzzardo brought nine players from her 2024-25 Southeastern team and entire staff, including managers with her to McNeese.
• The 2025-26 roster consists of two-time Southland "Defensive Player of the Year" in Jalencia Pierre.
• Also on the team are two Southland "Freshmen of the Year"- Kaili Chamberlin (2022) and Lexi Alexander (2023).
• It's the second all-time time meeting against San Diego State.  The two teams first met during the 1990-91 season at a tournament in Moraga, California.  The Aztecs won 101-56. 
 • The win over UTRGV in the semifinals of the SLC Tournament marked head coach Ayla Guzzardo's 150th career win.
• Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo is the first McNeese head coach to win 22 games in her first season as head coach
• As of Feb. 18, 2026, Guzzardo has an overall differential record of improvement of 14.5 for first year head coaches, tying for the best turnaround in the nation for a first-year head coach.
• As of March 19, Guzzardo holds the Louisiana record of differential (14.5) for a first-year head coach that was previously held by Kim Mulkey's Louisiana record of 12.5 (2021-22) in her first season at LSU.
• Head coach Ayla Guzzardo picked up her 100th career Southland Conference win on Feb. 5, 2026, with an 83-35 home win over Houston Christian.
• McNeese received votes in the College Insider Top 25 poll eight times before broking into the poll for the first time this season on Feb. 17, 2026, coming in at No. 25.  The Cowgirls received votes in this poll the last four weeks of the season, ranking its highest of the season (21st) on March 10, 2026
• In 2011-12, McNeese ranked 18th in the College Insider Top 25 preseason poll.  McNeese ranked four other times in that poll during the 2011-12 season, ranking as high as 11th on Dec. 13, 2011.
• Rank in the Top 25 in eight NCAA statistical categories - 1st in turnover margin (13.59), 2nd in turnovers per game (10.6), 5th in scoring defense (52.7) and steals per game (15.0), eighth in turnovers forced per game (24.148), 11th in assists/turnover ratio (1.37), 13th in winning percent (85.3), and 20th in scoring margin (16.2).
• The Cowgirls' NET ranking of 78 (Dec. 14, 2025), was the highest in program history.
• Freshman Dakota Howard has led McNeese in scoring all season.  She is averaging 12.8 ppg., and also leads the team in rebounds (6.1), and steals with 93 which ranks her 25th in the nation with 2.8 steals per game.
• Arianna Patton leads the team with 89 three-pointers.  She is second on the team in scoring (11.2 ppg.).  Patton is one point away from her 1,000^th career point.
• Jalencia Pierre has a team high 127 assists (3.8 apg.) and is second on the team with 69 steals.  She ranks 11th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.37).