Cowgirls lunch on Ecclesia

Published 4:10 pm Sunday, November 26, 2023

Three days after being the main course at Baylor’s holiday feast the Cowgirls found their own meal ticket.

Turning things around 154 points, McNeese State hammered Ecclesia 102-28 Sunday afternoon inside the Legacy Center.

“I’m happy the way we responded,” said Cowgirl head coach Lynn Kennedy.

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Coming off an 80-point loss last Friday at the hands of No. 14 Baylor, the Cowgirls turn the tables on their guests, breaking the century mark for the second time in three games.

“We focused on the defensive end,” said Kennedy. “I thought we locked in real well on defense.”

The Cowgirls (3-5) forced 31 turnovers, scoring 42 points off of them.

Eight McNeese players finished with at least nine points with Emilia Tenbrock with 22 points. The junior transfer from Columbus State hit on seven of her eight shots from the floor and all three from behind the 3-point line.

McNeese connected on 7-of-11 3-point shots and hit 62.7 percent from the floor overall. The Cowgirls also dished out a season-high 26 assists on 37 field goals.

“We have been working on offensive execution,” said Kennedy. “How we execute is important no matter the competition. We have to keep getting better.”

Helena Galunic added a career-high 14 points for McNeese while Julie Puente and Azjah Reeves each added 11. Nayada Dickerson led Ecclesia with 10 points.

The Cowgirls jumped out to a 24-7 lead after one quarter before going on a 16-0 run in the second. They led 60-13 at halftime and 83-21 after three.

McNeese was playing without two starters. Point guard Christina Gil was hurt early in the second quarter at Baylor while Mireia Yespes missed her second game after being hurt against North American.

Kennedy said it Yespes could have played Sunday but was held out as a precaution.

McNeese is now 3-0 all-time against Ecclesia, scoring at least 100 points a contest.

The Cowgirls will be back in action Wednesday when they play at Kansas State before traveling to LSU for a game the following Tuesday.