McNeese Women Out Slug Lamar, Snap 17-Game Losing Streak

Lake Charles, Louisiana (KNGT-FM) - Streaks are meant to be broken, and for the McNeese Women’s program, their biggest bugaboo of the last ten years was snapped on Saturday Afternoon as McNeese ended its 17-game losing streak to Lamar with a 65-57 win.

“This is why we were brought here—to change things, and we didn’t want to wait a few years. We wanted to do it immediately,” said Guzzardo after the win.

If you like defense, that was the game for you. Two of the toughest defenses in the Southland Conference delivered tremendous efforts. It was a slow chase to 60, and McNeese won.

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After an early bucket from Dakota Howard for McNeese, Lamar went on an 8-0 run to start the game, aided by T’Aaliyah Milner. A timeout by Ayla Guzzardo changed the game from that point. The Cowgirls came out of the timeout on an 11-0 run.

What changed after the timeout?

“There was a lot more defensive intensity,” said Guzzardo at halftime. “We can score off our defensive pressure—we just had to take advantage of our opportunities.”

McNeese carried a 27–21 lead into the halftime locker room, scoring 20 of its 27 points in the paint.

Muchlike the Men’s game on Friday Night, these two had to slug it out. Cowgirls led for most of the game, but McNeese could never put Lamar away. For much of the 2nd Half, the two traded blows, including Lamar cutting the McNeese lead to as little as three in the 4th Quarter.

That was until Patton and Pierre turned it on. Patton, who had struggled to shoot the ball for most of the game, poured in 11 of her 15 points in the 4th Quarter.

Three Cowgirls scored in double figures, led by Patton’s 15 points. Jalencia Pierre added 14 on 4-of-12 shooting, while Dakota Howard chipped in 13 points and was disruptive on the defensive end with five steals.

“She’s in the gym every single day,” Guzzardo said. “What she’s doing now is what she’s been doing all season. She hasn’t changed a bit.” “We’re not going to shy away from her. We’re going to keep going back to her, keep picking her up.”

READ MORE: McNeese Men Defeat Lamar In Front of National TV Audience

With the win, McNeese moves to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in Southland Conference play. Lamar falls to 6-6 and 3-2 in conference play. McNeese remains in a 3-way tie for first place atop the Southland Conference.

McNeese will be back in action on Thursday, with Nicholls coming to Lake Charles before the much-anticipated matchup with Southeastern next Saturday.