McNeese State Overcomes Sluggish Start for 67-55 Win over Lions
By Brandon C. Williams
Southland.org
KATY, Texas - For the second time in a week, McNeese shook off a
sluggish start against Southeastern Louisiana only to against establish why
they entered Merrell Center as the defending conference champions.
Behind a combined 37 points from guards Ashlyn and Caitlyn Baggett and
a career-high 21 rebounds from forward Kendra Wells, the Cowgirls overcame a
14-point first half deficit to pull away with a 67-55 win over the Lady Lions
to advance to Thursday's semifinal round.
"We got to a really rocky start," said McNeese coach Brooks
Donald-Williams, whose team improved to 24-7 overall. "I thought we composed
ourselves and did a much better job of attacking and playing our style of
basketball."
The second-seeded Cowgirls played anything but their style in the
first seven minutes, missing six of their first seven shots as the Lady Lions
(12-18) bolted out to a 16-2 lead when Kelli Jenkins converted a layup at the
13:41 mark.
"I think it was the nerves," said Wells of the slow start.
The deficit proved to be a wakeup call for McNeese, which methodically
whittled down the deficit and took the lead for good when Candace LaCombe
drilled a 3-pointer to give them a 27-25 lead with 1:34 left in the half. The
basket highlighted a 20-6 run by the Cowgirls, which allowed them to take 32-27
lead at intermission.
"I thought we had a good game plan coming in," said Southeastern
Louisiana coach Lori Davis Jones. "It worked real well when we hit shots, but
it didn't work so well when we didn't."
The Lady Lions shot just 34 percent from the field, with many of the
misses landing in the direction of Wells, who played all 40 minutes as McNeese
finished with a dominating 53-35 edge on the glass.
"I go into every game thinking my role is to rebound," said Wells.
"That's what I take pride in."
Wells also received a boost with the presence of Adrienne Minor, who
came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds to go along with seven points in 21
minutes of work.
McNeese's size advantage proved to be an issue in Southeastern
Louisiana's two regular season losses.
"They just work really hard on the boards," said Jones of the
Cowgirls. "They're a bit longer than we are and they go out there pretty hard."
The Cowgirls led by 11 midway in the second half, but the Lady Lions
made one final dash, cutting the margin to 53-48 with 6:26 remaining. From
there, McNeese's defense held them to just two field goals the rest of the way.
Ashlyn Baggett led all scorers with 19 points, while Caitlyn Baggett
added 18 for McNeese. Jenkins scored 18, which allowed her to reach the
1,000-point mark in her career with the Lady Lions.
Postgame Quotes
McNeese head coach Brooks Donald-Williams
Opening statement...
"I thought it was a good
win. Obviously the first win of the tournament is always a really good one. We
got off to a really rocky, really rough start. I thought we composed ourselves
in the second half and did a much better job of attacking and playing our
basketball. I am really proud of the girls. I thought we played with a lot of
toughness. Kitty [Kendra Wells] played 40 minutes and had 21 rebounds, and that
is unbelievable. I thought we all played with an attack-mentality especially as
the game went on. I am proud of our win."
On second half adjustments...
"At the half, we just talked
about playing with a different mentality. I felt like we came out at the tip
just holding the ball over our head and not really attacking and not taking
advantage of our strengths. We just felt like we weren't playing with our
intensity defensively and sagging off a little bit too much. We felt like we
had a lot more to give in the second half, and the girls went out there and did
that in the second."
On Kendra [Kitty] Wells' 21 rebounds...
"I had no idea she had 21
rebounds, but we expect her to rebound every ball that goes up because she is
capable of doing that. It's great for her; I think Kitty is getting better
every game. She reached a milestone in our history books, and she is just going
to keep going. She has the mentality that rebounding is her role and she takes
great pride in it. And she knows that we can't win without it."
McNeese State junior guard Ashlyn Baggett
On falling behind 16-2 at the start...
"It was just a rough start.
We just weren't really executing due to the nerves. We just started relaxing.
We weren't stressing out about it, but we knew that we had to pick it up and
that's was we did."
McNeese State senior forward Kendra Wells
On second half adjustments....
"I think it was just the
nerves. We went into the locker room at halftime and talked to each other and
said that we were going to come out and execute. We know what type of game and
tempo we can play."
On grabbing 21 rebounds...
I go into every game
thinking that my role is to rebound, and that is what I take pride in."
Southeastern Louisiana head coach Lori Davis Jones
Opening statement...
"I thought it was a hard
fought ballgame. I thought we had a good game plan going in, and it worked well
when we hit shots. I thought it was competitive and energetic, and we are
disappointed that we didn't come out on the topside of this one."
On opening the game with a 16-2 lead...
"We hit shots early on, and
we hit our first shots. After that, we got a little comfortable with taking our
first shot opportunities and didn't do a good job of playing an extra pass or
two deeper. And then we didn't get any second-shot opportunities. We were
one-and-down, and McNeese State warmed up and started hitting their shots and getting
in the paint and that changed the tempo."
Southeastern Louisiana guard Kelli Jenkins
On Southeastern's team effort...
"I feel like we came out
with a lot of energy. Everybody was ready and geared to play. The whole time on
the court, we tried to stay together and stay positive. Everyone just wanted to
go out and finish strong even if we lose. So we stayed strong the whole game."