McNeese State Runs Past Texas College
McNeese State 76, Texas College 51
LAKE CHARLES, La.- McNeese State sophomore Kendra Wells led all players with 17 points to lead the Cowgirls in a 76-51 win over Texas College here Monday night. The victory improved the Cowgirls to 1-1 on the year. Wells also picked up six rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block in the victory. McNeese ended the game with four players scoring in double figures including Wells.
Senior Kayla Armstrong scored a career high 13 points and grabbed a career high seven rebounds. Kiara Johnson added 12 points and freshman Adrienne Minor recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a game high 11 rebounds. Minor was 5 of 7 from the field with five offensive and six defensive rebounds.
"We are still trying to find ourselves as a team. We had several groups tonight who gelled extremely well offensively and defensively. It's a big blow for us to play without two of our best scorers (Liz Kingham and Candace LaCombe) so early in the season but our kids are adjusting extremely well," said head coach Brooks. Kingham suffered a season ending injury prior to the season and LaCombe didn't see action tonight due to an injury in the season opener against New Orleans Saturday.
McNeese jumped out to a 15-0 lead to start the game following a Ne'Aisha Anderson three-pointer and a Minor layup before Texas College scored their first points. The Cowgirls held the lead for the entire game and held its largest lead of the first half (23-5) with 8:30 to go. McNeese led 33-22 at the half with 22 of their first half points coming off turnovers.
McNeese continued to extend its lead in the second half by going on a 14-0 run to begin the second half and held a 47-22 lead with 15 minutes left to play. The Cowgirls held a 28 point lead four times in the second half with the last coming off a layup by Raiyawna Gatlin with 1:35 remaining.
"Our second half effort was much improved. Our offensive flow and our intensity was better in the second half."
Southeastern Louisiana 86, William Carey 45
HAMMOND, La. - Senior wing Quantae Thomas led four Lady Lions in double figures with a career-high 24 points, as Southeastern Louisiana opened its 2009-10 home schedule with an 86-45 win over William Carey in non-conference women's basketball action Monday night at the University Center.
The win evened Southeastern's record at 1-1, while William Carey's record moved to 0-2. The Lady Lions used a dominating second half effort to run past the Lady Saders. Southeastern hit 60 percent (21-for-35) of their field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes and scored 32 points off 28 William Carey turnovers in the contest.
Thomas, who posted her second consecutive 20-plus point performance, was joined in double figures by senior guard Kim Edmonson (15 points), freshman guard Erica Burgess (11 points) and sophomore guard Kelli Jenkins, who tied a career-high with 10 points. Jenkins posted perhaps the best all-around game of her career on Monday, dishing out a career-high nine assists and leading Southeastern with four steals. Playing in her first home game, Burgess was right behind Jenkins with six assists and three steals.
Thomas matched a career-high with five three-point field goals, as Southeastern made 12 from behind the arc. Edmonson hit four from long range, while senior center Zevy Ivory, junior guard Chelsea Hix and sophomore guard Amber Crenshaw connected on one three-point field goal each.
The Lady Lions also enjoyed a dominant advantage on the boards, out-rebounding William Carey, 45-25. Hix led all players with a career-high eight rebounds, while Thomas and junior forward Rashima Jenkins grabbed seven rebounds apiece.
"We were very pleased with our second-half effort and it was good to see our team show the ability to separate from an opponent and put them away when we had the opportunity," Southeastern head coach Lori Davis Jones commented. "We did good work rebounding and our defensive effort forced William Carey into mistakes and created easy opportunities for us on the offensive end."
The eighth-year head coach was also quick to praise the efforts of both Thomas and Jenkins.
"Quantae played very steady, didn't force anything and showed the type of efficiency (9-for-16 from the floor, 5-for-8 on threes) on the offensive end that we need from our go-to player," Jones commented. "Kelli did an excellent job staying poised and running the team. You can't ask for a better assist-to-turnover ratio (nine assists, three turnovers) from a point guard."
William Carey was led by Alisha Mason and Kim Lewis, who scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Lewis also grabbed a team-high five boards, while Corissa Tillman and Hope Swindle dished out three assists apiece.
A steal and layup by Kelli Jenkins gave Southeastern the early lead and the Lady Lions never trailed in the game. Edmonson scored 11 points in the first 5:10 of the game, giving Southeastern a 15-10 lead with 14:50 remaining.
The lead stayed in single digits for the majority of the half, until a three by Thomas pushed the lead to 34-22 with 1:42 left in the opening period. Southeastern would go into halftime with a 36-23 lead.
Southeastern was unable to pull away from William Carey early in the second half, as a Lewis layup moved the score to 47-30 with 11:19 remaining. Southeastern stepped on the gas from that point, rolling off a 17-3 run over the next four minutes. A Thomas layup with seven minutes left put Southeastern up, 66-33.
Leading by 27 with 4:20 left, Southeastern outscored WCU, 19-6, for the remainder of the game. Thomas hit three treys to fuel the rally, while Crenshaw hit a three and a layup to provide the final 41-point margin.
Southeastern will be on the road for the next three games, starting with a trip to Southern on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Baton Rouge.