The Cowgirls begin a critical stretch of their season with a pair of home games over the next few days.

McNeese State will host Stephen F. Austin Thursday night inside the Legacy Center and Lamar on Saturday afternoon. 

The Cowgirls will be able to show the home fans if they are ready to join the Southland Conference’s upper half.

McNeese is 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the league, having won two of its last three. SFA comes to town for the 6 p.m. tip 13-4, but it is just 3-3 in the league.

“We are playing two really good teams,” said McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy. “One thing about this team is that they are always ready to work and listen.”

SFA leads the conference in scoring at 80.3 points a game but is down almost seven points in just SLC contests. The Lumberjacks lead the league in long-range shooting, making nearly 10 a game.

SFA has hit 168 3-pointers in a whopping 432 attempts. The Lumberjacks also lead the conference in field goal shooting 48.4 percent.

Trinity Moore and Avery Vansickle lead the way, shooting well over 50% from the floor. Vansickle is also the top 3-point shooter, making 45 of 88 threes. 

“They attack the basket and kick the ball out,” said Kennedy. “They can really shoot the ball. If they get hot, they can get really streaky.”

Faith Blackstone is fourth in the conference and tops the Lumberjacks in scoring with a 15.6 average. SFA has five players who score in double figures, while McNeese has just one, Paris Guillory.

The sophomore averages 16.3 a game and 17.4 in SLC contests. She has played just seven games since recovering from preseason knee surgery. 

“They are good all the way around,” said Kennedy. “We have to attack their screens and switch up on the ball.

“We are going to have to contest their shots and limit them. We have to use our length to disrupt their shooting.”

One big area the Cowgirls must work on is limiting the lumberjack runs. McNeese has had trouble with that, usually giving up one or two a game to their opponent.

“We have to minimize their runs,” said Kennedy. “We have to respond to them as well.”

The Cowgirls also need to make SFA pay when they break the press. The Lumberjacks will try to force the tempo and cause turnovers by applying pressure all over the floor.

“They are going to press us, and we need to finish,” said Kennedy. “We have to be creative on offense and score points.”