Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES- McNeese State's women's basketball team defeated Stephen F. Austin 68-60 in front of a Burton Coliseum record crowd of 871 here Saturday in its "Pack The House" game. "This was a great atmosphere for a women's basketball game. Our win was in part due to the crowd and the support they gave us throughout the game. I would like to thank everyone who came out and supported us. If we continue to partner together we can make this work. This game was exciting and a lot of fun," said head coach Brooks Donald Williams.

The victory was only the eighth McNeese victory in the all-time series against the Ladyjacks. The last McNeese victory was during the 2004-05 season when the Cowgirls won that game 71-53. Stephen F. Austin entered Saturday's game having won the last four meetings and five of the last six. With the victory, McNeese improved to 4-13 overall and 2-1 in league play while Stephen F. Austin fell to 5-11 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Junior Courtnee' Hollins led four Cowgirls in scoring with a career high 31 points. The native of Grant was practically unstoppable. She tied a McNeese single game record with seven three-pointers and was nearly perfect from the free throw line, making six of seven attempts.

"Courtnee' played unbelievable today. She was on fire and she continues to get better each game. Today she took shots within our offense and created shots when she needed too. When the defense didn't allow her to shoot the three, she made moves to the basket for layups."

Reeshimah Davis recorded her second double-double this season and fourth career with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Davis helped the Cowgirls outrebound the Ladyjacks 44-37. The senior from Houston, Texas grabbed eight defensive rebounds and three on the offensive side. Also helping Davis on the boards was Brittany Boone and Conceita Cutrer who both had seven apiece and Shante' Perry came up with five.

"We did a great job of boxing out. We worked all week on this and it paid off today. Reeshimah was extremely aggressive on the boards and that's what we need from her. I thought Boone, Cutrer and Perry also did a great job in helping on the boards. They also did a great job of boxing out and getting in position."

McNeese jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead on a jumper by Davis and back to back three-pointers by Boone. Stephen F. Austin would come back to tie the game 11 all on a Antoinette Davis layup and took a 13-11 lead with 11:34 left in the half on a Jordan Ford layup. That SFA lead wouldn't last long as Hollins would hit the first of her four first half three-pointers to regain the lead for the Cowgirls. McNeese went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-13 lead on two free throws by Perry with 6:32 left. Stephen F. Austin retook the lead at 22-21 with 2:51 and extended the lead to its largest of the half at 27-21 with 1:39 before holding a 32-27 at the halftime lead.

Boone hit a three-pointer on the Cowgirls' opening possession of the second half and Perry' layup with 16:06 helped spark a 27-11 Cowgirl run to give McNeese its largest lead of the game (54-43) with 8:48 left in the contest. The Cowgirls never trailed in the second half and made its final 12 free throws of the game to win its fourth victory of the season. The victory equals the overall and Southland Conference wins from last season, with 13 regular season games remaining.

"Boone and Perry also gave us and offensive spark when we needed it. Both of these players made baskets in crunch times. I thought Lenissa Lopez held her composure throughout the game and especially when SFA began to press us. She got the ball to the player we wanted to have the ball." Lopez ended the game by tying her career high with nine assists.