During this season in the rough, the Cowgirls may have found a diamond to build around.

After an inconsistent start, Emilia Tenbrock has found her shooting touch.

Despite the teams’s struggles, the 6-foot-1 junior guard from Dusseldorf, Germany has been hot of late for McNeese State.

Over the last five games, Tenbrock has averaged 24.6 points, including a career-high 40 at Texas A&M-Commerce to start her scoring run.

The streak has vaulted Tenbrock, a transfer from Division II Columbus State to the top of the Southland Conference in scoring. Tenbrock averages 16 points a game, just ahead of Lamar’s Akasha Davis (15.7).

“It is pretty cool, but I would like to win more games,” Tenbrock said of her leading the league.

McNeese is just 4-15 and 0-6 in the Southland.

“Emilia has been looking for her shot more,” said McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy. “What is more important, she has become a leader of our team. She has settled into that role nicely.

“In our offense, you can get some opportunities to score and she has taken advantage of it. She has been more aggressive.”

Tenbrock credits Kennedy for her improvement in the offense.

“Coach figures out where the mismatches are,” she said. “He gives me confidence. It takes some time to get used to the offense but I’m comfortable in it now.”

This is what Kennedy expected from Tenbrock when he got her to transfer to McNeese at the end of last season.

“You could see she was getting better and better each year,” Kennedy said. “I knew she could play on this level.”

Tenbrock started 45 of 54 games over her two seasons at Columbus State. She averaged a team-high 15.3 points a game as a sophomore and was named to the Peach Belt Conference’s second team.

Yet she still felt like there was something to prove by moving up to the D-I level.

“I wanted to show to myself I could play at this level,” Tenbrock said. “Basketball is more aggressive and faster here. You have to learn and play through that. It took time to adjust.”

When she scored 40 against Commerce on Jan. 6, Tenbrock became just the second Cowgirl ever to accomplish the feat. McNeese Hall of Famer Vicky Chapman is the other to reach the 40 mark in a game when she went for 43 against then USL in 1976.

“I had never reached 30 before,” said Tenbrock. “To score 40, I’m proud of that but I wish we would have won.”

Last Saturday Tenbrock reached another career milestone when she scored her 1,000th point during a loss to Incarnate Word in San Antonio. All this attention has made the sharp-shooter noticed by opposing coaches.

She gets the full attention and faces the best defenders now.

“I’m proud of that,” said Tenbrock. “I would rather have a target on my back than not be on their scouting reports.”

That won’t be a problem for Tenbrock anymore.