Cowgirls look to extend winning streak
Published 11:00 am Thursday, January 26, 2023
- McNeese Cowgirls guard Kaili Chamberlin (2) drives down court against Northwestern State Demons guard JaMiya Braxton (23) during a game at The Legacy Center on Feb. 5, 2022. (Rick Hickman / American Press)
Riding the wave of three consecutive victories, the Cowgirls set off on their longest road trip of their Southland Conference season.
They open the two-game journey tonight against defending SLC Tour champion Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Saturday, they take on preseason favorite and co-leader Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“Two very big games for us,” said McNeese State head coach Lynn Kennedy. “I like where we are at going into this week’s games.”
The Cowgirls have been playing well the last month or so, improving to 7-11, 4-3. Except for a few bad moments, the streak could be five straight.
“Our games change within games,” Kennedy said. “If we can figure it out for four quarters, I think we can be a pretty good team.”
McNeese will look to improve on a road record that has one victory in nine games, that coming last Thursday at Nicholls State. The Cowgirls swept the Colonels in a home-and-home series last week and are fourth in the league standings, one game out of third and two from first.
UIW (7-10, 2-5) enters tonight’s game tied for eighth. Corpus Christi (11-7, 6-1) begins this week’s play tied with Texas A&M-Commerce for the lead.
“We have a chance to improve our spot in the standings, stay about the same or fall depending on how we do,” Kennedy said. “It is about us. We have been our biggest problem.”
The Cowgirls lead the conference in assists but are second in turnovers, averaging 20.2 a game.
“We share the ball really well, but we have too many unforced errors,” Kennedy said. “That allows our opponents extra possessions.”
Sophomore guard Kaili Chamberlin has been starting to heat up during the streak. After a slow start to the season, the preseason all-league pick is staring to hit her shots.
“I think she was trying to do too much early,” Kennedy said. “We have told her to relax and play her game. She is really good at getting others the ball as well.”
It will be the first meeting between the teams since UIW knocked out the Cowgirls out of last year’s conference tournament, 90-63.
McNeese leads the conference in scoring in league games at 68.6 points an outing. It also leads the SLC in shooting, hitting on 45.3 percent from the floor.
