Howard, Cowgirls roll along

Published 4:56 pm Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Freshman’s 18 leads McNeese past HCU

Dakota Howard is making a fast name for herself in the Southland Conference.

The McNeese State freshman has picked up her game as league play gets into full swing, and the rest of the conference is taking notice.

On Wednesday, Howard continued her surge as the Cowgirls finished the 2025 calendar year on a high note, ripping Houston Christian 63-43 in Sharp Gym.

The victory moved McNeese into a multi-team tie for first place in the Southland Conference at 3-1 in the league, 9-4 overall. The Huskies fell to 2-2. 4-7 as they suffered their first loss of the season at home. 

McNeese will open a three-game homestand Saturday against Lamar in Townsley Law Arena.

“We want to go 3-0 this week,” McNeese head coach Ayla Guzzardo said before beating the Huskies. “We want to get back to playing our aggressive, tough defense and scoring off of that.”

Howard finished with 18 points and five rebounds in just 28 minutes, sitting most of the fourth quarter to get ready for the weekend. Howard, who has scored at least 18 points in three of her four league games, was 8-for-11 from the floor and also had five of McNeese’s 12 steals. 

The true freshman was one of three McNeese players to end the game in double figures.

“She is a beast,” Guzzardo said of Howard. “She is so athletic that she is hard to guard.”

Senior Lexi Alexander responded to her one-game suspension by coming off the bench to score 12 points and grab six rebounds in 22 minutes. Sophomore Tyreonna Silbley, who had a career-high 18 Monday at Incarnate Word, finished with 10 points.

“It was good to have Lexi back,” Guzzardo said. “She really helped out with shooting inside.”

Alexander finished 6 of 9 from the field.

The Cowgirls raced out to a 10-0 lead five minutes into the game, thanks in large part to forcing five early turnovers. McNeese led 16-8 after the first quarter, but the Huskies responded. 

HCU used a late second-quarter rally to cut the Cowgirl lead to just 26-23 on a pair of Grace Booth free throws with 1:20 remaining. McNeese was able to finish strong thanks to a Jalencia Pierre jumper and Ariana Patton’s traditional 3-point play with one second left. 

That gave McNeese a 31-23 lead at the break.

“We needed that,” said Guzzardo. “They had made a run, and that gave us momentum heading into the second half.”

Howard scored nine points during a 13-0 Cowgirl run that gave McNeese a 44-25 lead midway through the third quarter. McNeese would lead by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter to coast to the victory. 

In the game, the Cowgirls, who average forcing just over 23 turnovers per game, finished with 27 against HCU. They rank second nationally in that category.

McNeese converted those Huskie mistakes into 30 points. 

“We created a lot of our offense from our defense,” said Guzzardo. “That’s how we want to play.”