SLC Women’s Preview: Cowgirls are team to catch
Published 2:33 pm Friday, March 6, 2026
With the exception of Miami of Ohio, no basketball team has been as dominant in its league as the Cowgirls.
They have won 21 of 22 Southland Conference games. They have a 27-4 record overall, with three losses to Power 4 teams. They have also won 20 straight and haven’t lost since Dec. 15.
Yet there is pressure on the league’s top seed, and still, some who don’t believe.
One website predicted the Cowgirls would not win the Southland Championship Tournament, which opens on the women’s side Monday morning. Instead, the site picked Stephen F. Austin, a team McNeese State beat by 27 last Monday and swept this season.
“Yes, we noticed that,” said McNeese head coach Ayla Guzzardo.
The Cowgirls won’t open play in the tournament until Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. inside Townsley Law Arena, where they are 12-1.
“We are excited for the tournament,” said McNeese guard Arianna Patton. “We are not done. We are just getting started.”
Seven other teams are ready to take their shot at the Cowgirls. Leading that group is second-seeded Lamar, which lost two competitive games to McNeese by eight points each, faltering late.
Lamar (20-9, 17-5) didn’t wrap up the second seed until last Monday, when they won their season finale while SFA was losing in Lake Charles. The Lady Jacks, who won the championship last season, finished as the third seed at 22-9, 16-6.
“It is almost the same path as last year,” said SFA head coach Leonard Bishop. “Our team is rejuvenated and ready to go on a 3-game run. You take it one game at a time and survive and advance.”
The other team earning a bye is Texas-Rio Grande Valley, which finished fourth. RGV (19-12, 6-6) lost the tie-breaker to SFA and will begin the tournament in the first game on Tuesday. The inside-outside duo of Charlotte O’Keefe and Jalayah Ingram leads RGV.
Northwestern State, the fifth seed, will open the tournament against No. 8 East Texas A&M (13-16, 9-13) Monday morning. The Lady Demons (17-13, 14-8) are led by Player of the Year Vernell Atamah, who led the league in scoring at 19.3.
NSU is the only SLC team to have beaten McNeese this year, and they did it on the Cowgirls’ home floor.
The other opening-day game will be No. 6 Incarnate Word (13-16, 11-11) playing No. 7 Nicholls (14-15, 10-12).
McNeese will be looking for its third SLC Tournament title in program history and first since 2012.
“We came here to win championships and go to the NCAA Tournament,” said Guzzardo.
Now her Cowgirls will get their chance, even if others don’t believe.
