Jan. 13, 2005
BEAUMONT - An 18-point effort from Lamar's LaToya Carson was not enough to lift the Lady Cardinals out of a 17-point halftime deficit on Thursday night, as the McNeese State Cowgirls earned a 66-54 Southland Conference victory over LU at the Montagne Center.
It was the second straight SLC defeat for the Lady Cardinals, who fell to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in league play. McNeese, however, won for the second straight time and improved its season record to 3-11, including a 2-1 SLC mark. It was the Cowgirls fourth straight victory over Lamar.
The Lady Cardinals outscored McNeese 28-23 in the second half and held the Cowgirls to a 25.9 field goal percentage (7-of-27) in the period, but were was only able to pull within seven (52-59) with 2:41 left to play.
Despite forcing the Cowgirls into 21 turnovers for the game, including 12 in the second period, 11 second-half turnovers by LU and a 37.5% clip from the floor stifled the Lady Cardinals late-game comeback bid.
Freshman Chelsea Gugliotta, a forward from Bicknell, Indiana, dropped in eight of her 10 points in the second period and also grabbed seven of her team-high eight rebounds in what was one of the most physical contests of the year.
The two teams combined for 42 turnovers and recorded 45 total shots from the free throw line. Both teams shot an identical 55.6 percent from the charity stripe. LU was 15-of-27 at the line and McNeese shot 10-of-18.
The game opened with MSU scoring the first five points before Lamar responded with a quick 7-0 spurt. The Cowgirls then ripped off what proved to be the most decisive run of the game by scoring 16 unanswered points to build a 21-7 lead with 12:55 in the first half. MSU's Shamika Stewart scored six of her game-high 18 points during the run as the Cowgirls took advantage of Lamar down low with five lay ups.
Following the MSU run and a 5:22 scoreless streak by the Lady Cards, freshman Valeisa Crenshaw ended LU's scoring drought with a lay up at the 12:16 mark. Lamar pulled within 10 points (11-21) less than a minute later after junior Megan McDougald converted a feed from Crenshaw.
LU couldn't get any closer than 10 during the final 10 minutes of the first half and McNeese carried a 43-26 lead into the intermission after Stewart added a pair of lay ups in the final 1:44.
Junior Audrea Samuel chipped in with six points and six rebounds for Lamar, while also recording three steals. Gugliotta also tied a career-high with four steals in 28 minutes of action.
MSU's Regina Spivey notched 15 points and six rebounds, while Tara Abdul-Hadi added nine points and seven boards.
The Cowgirls finished the game with a 39 to 36 advantage on the boards, while pulling down 14 offensive rebounds. MSU's Stewart led all players with nine rebounds.
McNeese shot 41.7% from the field for the night after bolstering its percentage with a 54.5% clip in the opening frame. Lamar was 39.6% for the contest, connecting on 19-of-48 from the floor.
