Special to the American Press

SAN ANTONIO — A pair of freshmen stepped up to lead McNeese State to its first Southland Conference victory of the season Saturday, a 67- 57 win over Incarnate Word.

Cristina Gil scored a team-high 16 points and Kaili Chamberlin recorded her first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Cowgirls 6-10, 1-2 SLC) snapped a two-game skid and ended a four-game losing streak to Incarnate Word.

Junior forward Divine Tanks, who played at Barbe High School, also registered a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She also contributed a team-high four steals.

It was the first time this season two Cowgirls recorded a double-double in the same game.

Desirae Hansen was the fourth Cowgirl to finish in double figures with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.

“It feels good to get that first conference win,” said first-year Cowgirls head coach Lynn Kennedy. “For the most part, I thought we played composed and our defensive intensity, especially to start the third won us the game.”

McNeese opened the second half with an 11-0 run.

Jaaucklyn Moore scored game-high 19 points for Incarnate Word (4-10, 0-3), which lost its sixth consecutive game. Destiny Terrell added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals.

A Chamberlin layup broke a 7-7 tie and the Cowgirls never looked back.

The Cowgirls, who outrebounded the Cardinals 42-30, sank 10 of their 25 3-point shots, including three in the first quarter that put them up 21-17 after the first quarter.

“It’s nice when they fall,” Kennedy said of the 3-point shots. “We can extend the lead when we make them. They made a couple of runs, but when we hit those 3s, it silenced the run, plus it gave us the momentum back and we had some big-time 3-pointers today where we didn’t get those against Corpus the other night.”

The Cowgirls built as much as an 11-point lead in the second quarter and went into the half with a 36-28 lead.

McNeese dominated the first 4 minutes of the third quarter with an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 47-38.

“Our huge run to start the third carried us and that was the difference in the game,” Kennedy said.

McNeese led 53-42 heading into the final quarter.