Photo courtesy of McNeese Athletics
The McNeese Cowgirls’ bid for the SLC Tournament championship came up one game short after a 59-71 loss in Thursday’s championship game to the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks.

The title is the second straight for the Ladyjacks, who will represent the Southland Conference in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls take will part in the WBIT. The WBIT field will be announced late Sunday evening following the NCAA Tournament field announcement.

The 2025-2026 season was a large stepping stone for the Cowgirls. The team did not qualify for the tournament last year. This season, the first under Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo, marked the largest turnaround in Division 1 women’s basketball, marking an 18-game improvement.

The No. 1-seed Cowgirls opened tournament play Wednesday morning with a 67-52 victory against the University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. Sophomore guard Tyreona Sibley, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led McNeese in scoring and broke her personal record with 25 points.

The Cowgirls’ semi-final victory also gave Coach Ayla Guzzardo her 150th career win and her 28th as McNeese’s head coach.

“McNeese basketball is on the map, and we’re gonna help to get it to another level,” Guzzardo said in a post-game interview after the UTRGV win. “This is a great place to be. We’re happy, and we’re thankful we made this move.”

The Cowgirls rode a 21-game winning streak to their first appearance in the Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Tournament championship game in 14 years Thursday where they faced No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin.

Although the Cowgirls had the advantage on paper, SFA was statistically the better team, and it showed.

Dakota Howard, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, was one of three Cowgirls to score in double figures, leading all players with a game high 23 points. Howard recorded her fourth career double double by pulling down 10 rebounds. Jalencia Pierre and Arianna Patton both ended the game with 11 points each.