Stephen F. Austin picked up the pace and the intensity in the second quarter and the McNeese State Cowgirls couldn’t deal with either in a 96-65 loss at Burton Coliseum.
The loss drops the Cowgirls to 1-1 in Southland Conference play and 6-7 overall.
McNeese led 17-15 after the first quarter, but was outscored 29-11 in the second quarter. SFA guard Taylor Ross dominated the game after the first quarter, finishing one rebound shy of a triple-double with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists.
She scored 13 points and made all four field goal attempts in the second quarter, including a pair of threes. She reached her season scoring average of 17 points by halftime.
SFA improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in Southland play with the win.
More than the Ross heroics, the Cowgirls lack of effort bothered head coach Kacie Cryer.
“They out-toughed us,” Cryer said. “The game was tied 22-22 and we were going back-and-forth with them. They started picking up their intensity on defense, started attacking us and started pressing us right there. We just didn’t handle it very well. That is where we lost the game. We were down by 16 at halftime, but we were in the game until then and had won the first quarter.”
The Cowgirls contributed to their own demise with five turnovers in the second quarter and five more in the first three minutes of the third.
“When things weren’t going our way we didn’t rise above it, we didn’t accept the challenge,” Cryer said.
“We have got to do better. We weren’t coming together as a team, getting stops when we needed them like we did at Northwestern State (in a 68-63 road win Saturday). We have to grow. The league is wide open, but we can’t be inconsistent. We can’t win on the road and then lose by 20 or 30 at home.”
Cryer benched all five starters midway through the first quarter after a sluggish start.
“We didn’t get off to a good start. That’s my fault. That’s about the third game this has happened this season. We are going to bounce back. We have two more games here this week. Sam Houston is going to come in here (Thursday) and play hard. They will be prepared and we will be too. We have good kids. They are going to bounce back.”
Amber Donnes was the lone Cowgirl in double figures with 11 points. McNeese shot 31 percent from the floor in the game and allowed SFA to shoot 52 percent.
Five Ladyjacks reached double figures. Brentney Branch scored 16, Adrienne Lewis had 12 and Riley Harvey and Stevi Parker scored 10 each.
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