Seven minutes and 10 seconds remained in a miserable second quarter that sealed McNeese State’s 72-49 loss to Central Arkansas on Wednesday.
Cowgirls senior guards Victoria Rachal and Amber Donnes operated, for once, at an advantage, running a 2-on-1 fast break down the Lake Charles Civic Center court off a rare Central Arkansas miss.
Known for her stop-and-pop shot — first-year Cowgirls coach Kacie Cryer’s called it the best in the Southland Conference — Rachal set herself 8 feet from the basket and fired, trying to cut the 10-point Sugar Bears lead. The shot did not draw iron. It barely grazed the backboard.
Still, the Cowgirls maintained possession. An inbounds play was run and Frederica Haywood corralled the ball inside. A spin move yielded an open shot. Again, it was missed.
“It’s our downfall right now,” Donnes sighed after the game.
Continuity in McNeese’s half-court offense is nonexistent. Playing with two freshmen point guards almost assures that in certain situations. Caitlin Davis’ two quick fouls at the end of the first quarter placed Tuesday’s game in that category.
The Sugar Bears (16-4, 8-2 SLC), winners of seven consecutive SLC games, outscored the Cowgirls 27-8 in a second quarter when McNeese made four shots.
The Cowgirls (10-11, 5-5), who lost their third in a row, made four shots in the first quarter, too, but admirable man-to-man defense — and Davis’ presence — left the deficit at 16-12.
“I should have put her back in,” Cryer lamented after the game. “But she’s such an aggressive player, I was worried she was going to pick up a third foul. But that’s my fault. I should have just put her back in. Next time, I will. But that hurt us big time, not having her in the game. She’s our floor general, floor leader and I needed her in the game at that moment.”
Central Arkansas executed its half-court offense how Cryer envisions her team playing — sharing the basketball around the perimeter and waiting for an open shot to present itself.
The Sugar Bears assisted 21 times on 29 field goals, shooting 58 percent against a Cowgirls bunch who could muster a 30 percent clip. Central Arkansas shot 11 of 14 in that decisive second quarter.
It was McNeese’s fifth consecutive game shooting below 40 percent. Four of the five were losses. Recently, the Cowgirls have the damning inability to make even the simplest shots — ones Cryer wants her young bunch taking — like Rachal’s stop and pop to open the game
It is a frustrating way to operate and it’s grating on the first-year coach, who received the second technical foul of her coaching career in the third quarter, lashing out at a three-person officiating crew who called the game about as putridly inconsistent as McNeese played it.
“It is in their heads,” Cryer said. “As a coach, myself, I have to figure out what we can do for them to stop pressing about it, for them to just relax, have fun and get them back to why they play basketball again. We’re going to figure that out.”
Operating largely alone in the front court, Haywood paced the Cowgirls with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. Rachal added 10 points.
Mercedes Rogers, who had 15 points and eight rebounds against the Sugar Bears in a 67-52 Cowgirls loss on Jan. 18 in Conway, played 6 minutes, all in the first half, and had no fouls. She was benched the entire second half. Cryer declined to elaborate on the reasoning.
Maggie Proffitt scored a game-high 22 points and Taylor Baudoin had 16 for the Sugar Bears.
If there was a solace, it was the Cowgirls’ second-half effort. Despite the score, the team played tenaciously into the second half, creating 21 Sugar Bears turnovers off its 1-2-2 press well into the fourth quarter.
One came with 4 minutes remaining. Regan Bolton intercepted an inbounds pass.
Unimpeded, she dribbled into the lane, stopped and rose for a wide-open shot, one that would have cosmetically lessened this beating.
It clanked off the back rim.
“Everybody’s just shook up,” Donnes said. “Everyone hates to lose, we’re all competitors. It really just sucks when you go so hard and don’t win.”
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