| Photo courtesy of McNeese Athletics |
| Cowboy Basketball Oct. 8 was a highly anticipated evening for McNeese basketball, as the LSU Tigers traveled down I-10 to face off against Bill Armstrong and his Bayou Bandits before a sold-out crowd of more than 4,000 Larry Johnson was the focal point of the offense, scoring 22 of McNeese’s 60 points scored, more than a third of the total. At one point, the outlook for McNeese was bleak, as Johnson went down with an injury in the middle of the first half. But when Johnson went down, the rest of the team elevated their play to continue holding off the Tigers. Christian Nitu and Jaylon Dean-Vines were in a three-way tie for the second-most defensive rebounds on the team, with Dean-Vines helping lead the way in total rebounds. Total rebound difference between the two teams was just one as they went 41-40 in the way of LSU. “It tells me that we have a chance to be great,” head coach Bill Armstrong said. “That’s all we preach, that’s all we practice, that’s all we do… these guys have embraced it. We talk about embracing hard and that’s what they did and it’s been done everyday since June.” Although the Bandits had not lost at home since Dec. 3, 2024, when Santa Clara came to town, McNeese still holds one of the longest active winning streaks at home in the NCAA. “I’ve never done this before and I never want to do it again. I’m going to make sure I’m going to work my tail off every single day to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Armstrong said on losing his first home game at McNeese. Former McNeese head coach and current LSU head coach, Will Wade, sung high praises for this roster. “That McNeese team, they’re good,” Wade said. “That defense is as good as ever, one of Bill’s trademarks.. I would assume that we will be the last team that wins in here this year… I’ll be following the Cowboys this year.” McNeese now turns its attention to Oct. 25, when Southern will come to Lake Charles to help kick off Homecoming Week with an exhibition game. The Bayou Bandits will then open the 2026-27 NCAA Men’s Basketball Regular Season on Nov. 2 in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, an all-day event featuring 16 mid-major programs that made the 2026 NCAA Tournament, including McNeese. There, the Bandits will take on the UAB Blazers at 4:30 p.m., with the game streaming on YouTube. Cowgirl Soccer The Cowgirls went unbeaten in two Southland Conference matches with a 2-0 road victory over UTRGV Oct. 8 before returning home for a 1-1 draw against Houston Christian on Oct. 11. Against UTRGV in Edinburg, Texas, McNeese secured their victory in the second half after a scoreless first half. Forward sophomore Sumayah Brown scored in the 47th minute off an assist from midfielder freshman Isabella Baltov, giving the Cowgirls a 1-0 advantage. Brown’s goal was her fourth goal of the season, while Baltov recorded her third assist. McNeese continued to create scoring opportunities throughout the second half before forward senior Morgan Fiedler added an insurance goal in the 86th minute. Fiedler’s first goal of the season extended the lead to 2-0 and helped seal the conference victory. The Cowgirls outshot UTRGV 16-8 and held an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. Goalkeeper sophomore Shannon Dempsey recorded three saves to preserve the shutout, marking McNeese’s sixth shutout of the season. Three days later, the Cowgirls returned home to Cowgirl Field and battled Houston Christian to a 1-1 draw in Southland Conference action. McNeese took a lead in the 41st minute when forward sophomore Rhiannon Maynes-Tourond found the back of the net off an assist from sophomore Ella Grace Davis. The goal was Maynes-Tourond’s fifth of the season and gave the Cowgirls a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. Houston Christian responded in the 50th minute when sophomore Isabella Alamo scored off an assist from senior forward Olivia Rossman, tying the match at 1-1. Despite opportunities from both sides during the remainder of the second half, neither team managed to score the go-ahead goal. The Cowgirls finished with 17 shots, including nine on goal, while Houston Christian recorded 19 shots and nine on goal. McNeese goalkeeper Shannon Dempsey made eight saves to help keep the match even, while Houston Christian goalkeeper Emmy McKeon also recorded eight saves. McNeese is now 8-5-2 overall and 3-1-2 in Southland Conference. The Cowgirls play Incarnate World at home Thursday at 6 p.m. Cowgirl Volleyball Coach Tayler Gray and her Cowgirls have taken on the month of October head-on, winning three of their five matchups this month, and now riding a two-game winning streak. The Cowgirls traveled to face the Southeastern Lions on Oct. 8 where they avoided the sweep but ended up with a 1-3 loss against the Lions. The main statistic that allowed Southeastern to rise above McNeese was their 28 total blocks on the Cowgirls. However, it wasn’t as defensively lopsided as that might seem, as McNeese was in the driver’s seat late, going on a three-score run to close in on Southeastern in the first set. Things played out similarly in the second set. With Megan Grose serving late, the Cowgirls went on a six-point run to take the lead. However, two errors by the Cowgirls allowed Southeastern to close out the set with the victory. The Cowgirls were able to respond with a set win of their own to force a 4th set, with Junior Gabbie Maldonado scoring two kills within the set to win the set 25-22. The 4th set was not what Coach Gray had hoped for, with nine attacking errors as McNeese finished with a .000 attack percentage. A much-needed victory over LSU New Orleans came two days later, as the Cowgirls won 3-1 over the Privateers. In that match, the Cowgirls recorded their best hitting percentage of the season at a total of .349, led by Harmony Jackson with 12 kills, Kayla Wilson and Gabbie Maldonado with 11 each, and Ava Henry with 10 kills of her own. Wilson also recorded the most blocks in a match in her McNeese career with five total blocks. On Thursday night, the Cowgirls returned home to face off against the East Texas A&M Lions and put on a barn burner of a show, taking the match to five sets. The Cowgirls came out hot against the Lions, winning Set 1, 25-14. McNeese started Set 2 not as hot as in Set 1, and while they still pulled out the win, 25-23, it was clear the momentum was shifting East Texas A&M’s way. And it did, as the Lions won the following two sets, forcing a fifth set between the two teams. Volleyball is a game of momentum, and it was a little of a bleak outlook as the Cowgirls just lost Set 4 in a 25-14 set match. It certainly did not help when the Lions jumped out to a 3-1 lead early, but after a service error by the Lions gave the ball back to McNeese, Sophomore Neal Grace Berry helped serve a 3 score run putting McNeese back into contention to close out the match. After multiple back and fourths between the two teams, it came down to a 14-11 with the ball in the hands of Neal Grace Berry’s hands for the match point. After the serve, an attacking error by Carli Banks put the Lions back into the fight 14-12. A service ace by East Texas closed the gap to one point separating the two teams. A clutch performance by Kayla Wilson sealed the deal for McNeese, as they held off the Lions from coming back down 2-0 in the sets to win. “I’m glad we came out on the winning end of that,” said Coach Gray. “It’s fitting that it was two points. I thought that the first and second set really went our way and then it got really lopsided. They’re best phase of their game is serving, I think they’re a high risk/high reward team… my biggest thing was trying to get the energy back… I said, “hey, this is an opportunity to show what we’re made of. Respond. Let’s just focus on one point at a time…” The Cowgirls will now take on the Northwestern State Demons at home Saturday at 1 p.m. in Townsley Law Arena. With nine matches remaining, and the Cowgirls sitting 7th in the Southland with a 3-4 record against Southland opponents, the push to the postseason begins with not a lot of room to spare in the standings. The program needs to be ranked 8th or above in the standings to make the Southland Conference tournament, and having already beat teams below them, can Coach Gray continue her momentum of winning within the Southland and make the post season as a first-year head coach? All games are streamed on ESPN+. |
Leave a Reply