COWBOY BASKETBALL
November started as one for the record books for the Cowboys, who handed the Champion Christian College Tigers a 127-65 loss and gave Head Coach Bill Armstrong his first career victory.
The Cowboys scored two dominant victories at home in the Townsley Law Arena Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, topping 100 points both times. One loss in a Nov. 7 game vs Santa Clara leaves the Cowboys 2-1 moving into tonight’s home game vs. the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
In an electric start, the Bayou Bandits scored 70 points in the first half against Champion Christian, compared to the Tigers’ 25 points. McNeese slowed down the pace in the second half, scoring 57 points and allowing Champion Christian 40 points.
Offensive standout of the game could be said to be the first-year student from Georgia; Freshman transfer Larry Johnson was a standout in the offense, coming off the bench to drop 30 points on Champion, the only player to do so across the NCAA, the WBNA, and the NBA so far this season. Defensively, junior Yanis Ndjonga led the team in total rebounds, while junior Carl Cherenfant led the team in defensive rebounds.
The Bayou Bandits then lost to Santa Clara in a 79-67 game Nov. 7.
McNeese had a better shooting percentage than Santa Clara within field goal range. However, the Broncos had the advantage past the 3-point-line, scoring on 38.7% of their shots against McNeese.
The Cowboys bounced back Nov. 10, scoring 132 points en route to a 132-50 win over the College of Biblical Studies.
The wealth was spread out among all the players: seven of the 12 scored double digit points offensively. The team was very consistent in scoring, making 74.3% of their shots within the field goal range and 44.4% of their shots from the 3-point-line.
Not only was their offense elite, their defense was off the charts, gaining 49 total rebounds to CBS’s 17. The rebound game was important after losing the rebound game against Santa Clara 47-28.
“All the guys knew, we got outrebounded against Santa Clara. We can’t let that happen again,” said Senior Javohn Garcia, who claimed five of those rebounds. “The first two years I’ve been here… we had a lot of guys that could score the ball, once you have a lot of guys who can score the ball, its going to translate into points. We just got to get better on rebounds and then everything will be special.”
COWGIRL BASKETBALL
The Cowgirls took home a dominating 100-38 victory in their season opener against Pensacola Christian Nov. 3 before dropping a second game to the University of Alabama later in the week.
The Cowgirls shot out like a cannon, scoring 59 points in the first half vs Pensacola Christian and holding the Eagles to 13 points. The second half had similar levels of success, with McNeese scoring 41 points to Pensacola’s 27.
Offensive standout player graduate student Arianna Patton led the team with 19 points, scoring 7-13 attempts in the field goal and going 5-10 at the 3-point line. Defensively, senior Lexie Alexander and freshman Carley Hamilton tied for the most rebounds with 7 each. Alexander had 4 rebounds while on offense and 3 on defense. Hamilton had 2 rebounds on offense and 5 on defense.
Overall, the Cowgirls scored 44 % of total shots attempted at the field goal, while the team scored 42.9% of their shots from the 3-point line.
The Cowgirls then played Alabama in Tuscaloosa Nov. 6 and lost to the Crimson Tide in a 64-44 game. The Cowgirls led the game going into the half, leading Alabama 29-25 after dropping 13 and 16 points in the first and second periods. However, the tides turned, as the Tide held the Cowgirls to just 15 points in the second half while Alabama scored 39 points.
Offensive player of the game was sophomore Tyreona Sibley, as she led the team with 12 points and two steals, going 6-17 on field goal shots. She also was the best player on defense, scoring four rebounds, two on offense and two on defense.
The team moves to a 1-1 record as they get ready to take on Tarleton State Nov. 16 in Stephenville, Texas, at the EECU Center.
COWGIRL SOCCER
While having a 4-12-4 record, McNeese State made the Southland Conference Soccer Championship Tournament as the No. 8 seed.
The Cowgirls were set to face off against the No. 1 seed Northwestern State, who had a record of 13-4-3.
The odds were stacked against the Pokes, but they kept the Demons honest, as they did not allow a single score with the 90 minutes of regulation. However, the Cowgirls also did not score, sending the game into overtime.
McNeese could not get to the goal, taking no shots at the goal line compared to four attempts by Northwestern. The difference in attack allowed the Demons to advance in the tournament.
COWGIRL VOLLEYBALL
Early November brought early success, as the Cowgirls claimed two victories before ending their season with a 3-0 loss to Southeastern at home Thursday.
In the first match against McNeese and Nicholls Nov. 5, the Cowgirls won their first set against the Colonels, 25-18. Nicholls then won the next two sets, beating McNeese 25-20 and 25-22 in the second and third sets. McNeese denied Nicholls the victory in the fourth set, beating them 26-24. The fourth set up a late game shoot-out, where McNeese had to fend off Nicholls scoring while they had the lead over McNeese 24-23. In the end, the fifth set allowed McNeese to pull away from Nicholls, winning over the Colonels 15-9 in the final set. The Cowgirls win the match in a 3-2 set.
The second match was a clean sweep for the Colonels, in a 0-3 set victory over the Cowgirls. McNeese put up a fight in the first two sets, losing 28-25 in Set 1 and 22-25 in Set 2. However, the third and final set was lost in a 14-25 defeat for McNeese.
Moving to the next match, McNeese then took a 3-1 set match victory over the New Orleans Privateers. McNeese won the first two sets 25-17 and 25-18, giving them momentum headed into the third set.
UNO did not give up, controlling the third set for most of the set, winning over McNeese 25-18. Facing a potential loss, at one point losing the fourth set 19-12, McNeese developed a clutch gene and clawed back to win 25-23.
The Cowgirls end the season with an 8-20 overall record and a 4-12 conference record. Southeastern concludes its season with a 20-8 overall record and 12-4 in the SLC.
MCNEESE SOFTBALL
The softball team had their final fall ball events this week with a battle between two halves of the team. The Blue versus Gold series led to a clean sweep by the Blue team, which won all three games in the series.
“I think we have the right people on team to make a good run,” said freshman Brooklyn Taylor. “I think we just need to be all on the same page come February… but I think we have the right people and I think we’re going to be very competitive. As a team, our goal is to make it to Super Regional and win conference and win the tournament.”
The front office also had a busy week, recruiting eight new freshman for the team’s efforts next season.
