Special to the American Press

THIBODAUX — Divine Tanks recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds and McNeese State beat Nicholls State 63-53 Thursday night in a Southland Conference women’s basketball game.

It was the third double-double of the season for the junior from Barbe High School.

Zuzanna Kulinska had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Desirae Hansen finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Cowgirls (10-13, 5-5 SLC), who ended a two-game losing streak and swept the season series.

The win also marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that McNeese has won 10 or more games.

“Team, team, team win,” Cowgirls head coach Lynn Kennedy said. “It wasn’t the prettiest of games but everyone contributed.

“I loved our start. It would have been nice if we could have gotten this kind of start for the other 30 minutes. We got a little more aggressive in the fourth quarter and we weren’t giving them second chance point.”

Chelsea Cain came off the bench to lead the Colonels (4-16, 2-7) with 13 points. Bryanna Washington had 10 points and eight rebounds and Kyrstin Green chipped in 10 points.

It was the third consecutive loss for Nicholls and the seventh in eight games.

The Cowgirls will close out their four-game road trip Saturday at New Orleans.

McNeese struggled from the perimeter shooting 2 of 19 from 3-point range. But the Cowgirls made up for it by scoring 30 points in the paint, compared to 14 for the Colonels, and getting 26 points off turnovers.

McNeese outscored Nicholls in three of the four quarters with the teams scoring 18 points each in the second quarter. The Cowgirls limited the Colonels to nine points — all free throws — in the final quarter as Nicholls was 0-for-9 from the floor in the quarter.