A heart-pumping comeback only led to a gut-wrenching defeat for the Cowgirls.

Rallying from 10 points down in fourth quarter, McNeese State lost 80-75 in overtime to Lamar Tuesday at the Legacy Center.

The loss was McNeese’s third this season at the hands of the Cardinals and 13th straight. Yet this one hurt so much more.

Rival Lamar knocked the Cowgirls from the Southland Conference Tournament just when it looked like McNeese might pull off a miracle. Instead it’s the third-seeded Cardinals (19-11) marching on to the semifinals to play No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19-10) while McNeese heads to the offseason after a 12-19 season.

“This was not the ending we wanted but we do know what is coming in the future,” said McNeese head coach Lenny Kennedy.

And what was almost here for the sixth-seeded Cowgirls who never led until overtime when sophomore Kaili Chamberlin hit a free throw with 4 minutes left to take a 68-67 lead.

“I think there were moments where we could take over but we just didn’t,” said Chamberlin, who was the lone McNeese player to score in overtime getting eight of her season-high 23 in the extra session.

“She was the toughest player on the floor,” Lamar head coach Aqua Franklin said of Chamberlin. “They have players who would not quit, but we found a way.”

The score was tied at 67 after regulation but McNeese never got a chance to win it. An official’s reversal of a call on a rebound that rolled out of bounds gave the Cardinals one last chance. They missed.

“I would have liked that possession back,” Kennedy said. “Honestly, I feel like we should still be playing.”

Chamberlin’s 3-pointer with 1:30 left tied the score again at 73, but Lamar’s Malay McQueen followed with her lone 3-pointer seconds later to put the Cardinals up for good.

Free throws then finished off the Cowgirls.

Lamar’s Akasha Davis led all scorers with 25 points.

Le’Shenae Stubblefield finished with 19 points in her final game at McNeese, while Barbe High product Divine Tanks had six points and nine rebounds.

Desirae Hanson had four but hit a 3-pointer with 34.7 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

“I’m very overwhelmed right now,” Tanks said. “I’m happy we went out fighting.”

McNeese was down 24-14 after one quarter and 36-29 at the half. The Cowgirls were down 57-47 heading into the fourth.

“I have an empty feeling a little bit right now,” Kennedy said.