You can change the name of this portion of the rivalry to Bloodbath at the Border.

For the 14th straight time, Lamar defeated McNeese State in an I-10 battle between state schools.

The Cowgirls last won the “Battle of the Border” on March 11, 2016 in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas, long before any players who took the floor Thursday night were around.

“I don’t think about that,” said McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy. “I’m just worried about our next game. We wanted to beat a team that was 2-0 in the conference that was it.”

They could not do that, falling 82-50.

The Cardinals went on a 19-0 run over the first and second quarters, as McNeese missed 13 straight shots from the floor and went 6:14 without a point.

By the time the Cowgirls got going again, Lamar was up 28-10 and the dye had been cast.

“We can’t have a 19-0 run,” said Kennedy. “We have to be better in those moments.”

The loss was the fifth straight for McNeese and the seventh over their last eight. It dropped the Cowgirls to 4-12, 0-3 in conference play. They have yet to beat a Division I opponent.

Lamar improved to 9-4 and stayed atop the Southland at 3-0.

“Right now we need three, four, five players to step up not just one or two,” Kennedy said. “We have to find a way.”

In a battle between top scorers in the league, McNeese’s Emilia Tenbrock won that contest. Coming off a 40-point game last Saturday, Tenbrock finished with 25 against Lamar.

She hit all 18 of her free throws while also pulling down nine rebounds. She closed the gap on the Cardinals’ Sabria Dean, who entered the night as the Southland’s top scorer.

Dean was held to just seven points mostly by freshman Azjah Reeves.

“Azjah did a great job on Dean,” said Kennedy. “I think her defense took a lot out of her.”

Dean is still ahead of Tenbrock 15.6 a game to 15.3.

But the rest of the Cardinals were able to make up for that with center Akasha Davis leading the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds. All 11 Lamar players who played scored in the win.

Mireia Yespes added 14 points for the Cowgirls.

McNeese will try to break its skid on Saturday when it hosts Southeastern at 1 p.m.