Half-good Cowgirls win
Published 9:39 pm Thursday, February 26, 2026
McNeese streaks past Nicholls in final 20 minutes
Make it 18 in a row.
The Cowgirls extended their program-record winning streak Thursday night with a 69-59 victory over Nicholls in Stopher Gym in Thibodeaux.
Actually, the streak should probably be just 17½ because McNeese State played just half a game against the Colonels. That was enough, though, as the Cowgirls exploded in the second half after a miserable opening 20 minutes.
“The way we were playing the offense and defense in the first half wasn’t our style of basketball,” said McNeese head coach Ayla Guzzardo. “In the second half, we got downhill and hit our shots.”
McNeese outscored Nicholls, 47-25, in the last two quarters. Now they have a chance to become the first women’s basketball team ever to win 20 Southland Conference games in a season with a victory Saturday over struggling New Orleans.
McNeese State improved to 25-4, 19-1 with the win, moving the Cowgirls one short of their all-time season record for victories with still two to play in the regular season. They have already wrapped up the league title and top seed in the upcoming postseason tournament.
“End of the day, we got the win,” said Guzzardo. “It was a cool team win.”
Nicholls fell 8-12, 6-14, but the Colonels clinched a spot in the postseason with Houston Christian’s loss to Lamar. The eight tourney teams are in, with two games left, but the order remains undecided outside McNeese’s top seed.
After making just six shots in the first half and trailing 34-22 at the break, the Cowgirls came out roaring. They scored 17 of the first 19 points in the second half and never trailed again, grabbing a 39-36 lead on Arianna Patton’s third 3-pointer of the third quarter just 4:13 in.
Patton finished with 11 points in the quarter as McNeese took a 51-46 lead into the fourth quarter, outscoring Nicholls 29-12. The Cowgirls started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run with Dakota Howard hitting back-to-back buckets, making it 61-48 with 6:08 left.
Howard had eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. Patton led McNeese with 17 points, 14 coming in the final 20 minutes.
Lexi Alexander and Jalencia Pierre added 11 points each for the Cowgirls.
Sh’Diamond McKnight led all scorers with 19 points for Nicholls. However, she fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, killing any chance of a Colonels’ comeback.
McNeese will play UNO at 2 p.m.
