Cowgirls win streak at three

Published 11:56 am Sunday, January 30, 2022

Searching for consistency, the young McNeese State women’s basketball team seems to be finding it at just the right time.

The Cowgirls (8-10, 3-2 Southland Conference) upended last-place New Orleans 72-61 Saturday to win their third consecutive game and fourth of their last six. For the Privateers (1-11, 0-5) it was their ninth straight loss.

McNeese is above .500 in the league for the first time this season.

“It was a good game for us,” said McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy. “I think we had better flow in the second half and we were able to stretch the floor.”

UNO made a late run, cutting the lead to 63-57 with just under 3 minutes remaining. That’s when a pair of freshmen responded for McNeese.

Kaili Chamberlin hit a 3-pointer and Christina Gil followed with a pair of driving buckets to push the lead back to 70-57 with 1:29 left.

“It gave us a boost at the end,” Chamberlin said of her shot. “I don’t think it ended it, but it gave us momentum.”

Gil finished with a game-high 19 points and Chamberlin added 15 to lead the Cowgirls. Divine Tanks and Desirae Hansen each added 12 as McNeese hit on 9 of 14 3-pointers, 6 of 10 in the second half.

Hansen also had 11 rebounds.

Zuzanna Kulinska, who finished with six points, was limited with early foul trouble. When she was on the floor McNeese was plus-19 on UNO.

McNeese led 32-28 at halftime.