On a day the McNeese Cowgirls honored alumni, current elder statesmen Allison Baggett and Talisa Boyd provided the heroics in a 57-55 win over Southern Miss.

Baggett was fouled while starting a move to the basket and made both ends of a 1-on-1. Southern Miss guard Jerontay Clemons missed a shot at the final buzzer. Baggett’s free throws capped a comeback from a 13-point halftime deficit.

Boyd had 12 points and 16 points for the Cowgirls (3-1). She scored 10 points in the second half, including eight straight for McNeese early in the half to get the Cowgirls within six.

“(Boyd’s outburst) not only kept us within striking distance, it got us going. It gave us life,” said McNeese head coach Brooks Donald Williams.

“Ann (Nwosah) did it for us Thursday night (in a win over LSU-Alexandria) and Talisa did it for us today. That was one of our emphasis, their rebounding, and T turned the tables on them, put the force on them and gave us an opportunity to win.”

Victoria Rachal led McNeese with 13 points off the bench. Baggett finished with 12.

Clemons led USM (3-1) with 15 points while Kierra Jordan added 12. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 14 in the first half, when the Cowgirls shot just 23 percent and had three starters — Baggett, Jayln Johnson and Nwosah, pick up two fouls each. Baggett played just six minutes in the half.

USM shot 62 percent in the first half, but managed just one basket in the final four minutes of the game and missed its final five field goal attempts.

“I am proud of the kids, I thought they fought so hard,” said Donald Williams. “They were really focused on getting stops and played complete team defense. In the second half, I though it was night and day. They hunkered down and followed the game plan.”

Rachal scored six points during a 10-2 McNeese run that tied the game at 47 in the second half. Carrier scored for USM on each of its next three possessions, but McNeese countered with baskets by Frederica Haywood, Baggett and Boyd to tie the game at 53 with 3:35 remaining.

“Rachal came in and attacked them when she came in when Jayln picked up her third and fourth fouls,” said Donald Williams. “Not only did we handle (the foul trouble) well, we kind of came on the attack.”

USM regained the lead on a basket by Markia Nix with 2:55 left. Johnson made a pair of free throws with 53 seconds left to pull McNeese even. Clemons missed a jumper with 28 seconds left, setting the stage for Baggett’s winning free throws.

Baggett scored nine points in the second half.

“I just wanted to stay focused and keep everybody alive and knowing we could still win the game,” she said. “At halftime we had a feeling that we were going to pull it out. We did a great job of staying focused.”

Before the game, the jersey of former McNeese star Pat “Shoney” Jean was retired. Jean is the school record holder for points, rebounds and steals. The only other retired jerseys in the program’s history are Ashlyn and Caitlyn Baggett, Allison’s older sisters.(Rick Hickman/American Press)