After suffering a setback last Saturday, the Cowgirls look to respond this week against a pair of teams that have already knocked them off.

That starts tonight when they host Lamar, which beat the Cowgirls in the Southland Conference opener in Beaumont, Texas, on New Year’s Eve. On Saturday, they travel to play Texas A&M-Commerce in another revenge game.

“We were not ready for that game (at Lamar),” said McNeese State head coach Lynn Kennedy. “They came out on fire and hit some really tough shots and we weren’t very good on defense.”

The Cardinals hit on 12 of 22 3-point shots in an 82-61 victory. Sabria Dean led Lamar with 20 points.

McNeese also turned the ball over 18 times which led to 24 Cardinals points.

“We can’t beat ourselves,” Kennedy said. “We can’t give the other team 20 to 25 extra possessions and expect to win.”

Things have changed since then. The Cowgirls (8-12, 5-4 SLC) are tied for fourth with Northwestern State with Lamar (10-10, 4-5) a game behind. The top four teams get byes in the postseason SLC Tournament which McNeese will host the first week of March.

“I like the way we have been playing the last two weeks,” Kennedy said. “The next step for us is to beat a team like this.”

Lamar is a different team away from home. With the Cardinals own a 7-3 record in Beaumont, they are 2-7 on the road.

McNeese hopes the Legacy Center can add to those problems.

“They don’t shoot the ball as well on the road,” Kennedy said of the Cardinals. “Still, they can beat you on the inside and outside if you let them.”

Dean leads a trio of Lamar players scoring in double figures at 14.5 a game, good for second in the league. The Cowgirls, who lead the SLC in scoring at 66.7 a game, don’t have a single player averaging 10 points.

Transfer center Paris Mullins tops the Cowgirls at 9.9 a game in just over 16 minutes of playing time.