March 12, 2008

Box Score

KATY, Texas-- McNeese State's women's basketball season came to an end here Wednesday afternoon at the Merrell Center as the Cowgirls fell 82-68 to Texas-Arlington in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament. The Cowgirls end the season with a 10-21 overall record.

"Our kids played hard and I'm extremely proud of this program. We lost this one but we don't have any regrets. From where this program began at the beginning of the season to end by making the tournament is a great accomplishment for the players, coaches and this program,' said head coach Brooks Donald Williams.

The Cowgirls' "Big Three" held true to their scoring out put as all three scored in double figures. Junior Shante' Perry led all players with a game high 24 points, two shy of tying her career high. The double figure scoring for Perry was her seventh straight and 15th of the season. She scored nine in the first half and 15 in the second half.

Junior Courtnee' Hollins added 16 and senior Brittany Boone ended her career with 12. Boone scored 10 first half points, got into foul trouble in the second half and was held to two second half points. Texas-Arlington held a 44-34 halftime lead.

Senior Brittany Boone Ended Her Playing Career With 12 Points

McNeese took an early lead in the game on a three-pointer by Boone on the opening basket of the game. After a UTA basket, Courtnee' Hollins hit one of her two three-pointers for a 5-2 Cowgirl lead. McNeese held a four point lead on another Boone three-pointer with 15:42 left in the half. The game remained close for the entire first half and UTA took a double digit lead with :46 left in the half.

"They started off playing four guards to match up with us a little better, which kind of kept us away from playing the zone that we did in Lake Charles. I felt we controlled the tempo in Lake Charles a little more, but that's because we were able to play a zone and slow them down a little bit."

The Mavericks extended its lead to 14 points early in the second half on a Tiffeny Riles layup for a 61-47 lead. McNeese cut the lead to six points twice in the early minutes of the second half before UTA went on a 7-0 run to take a 72-59 lead with 6:16 left in the game. McNeese couldn't get back on track as UTA outscored the Cowgirls 10-7 in the final five minutes of the game to advance to the semifinal round.

McNeese shot 48.4 percent from the field on 30 of 62 field goals and were six of 17 from three-point range. The Cowgirls shot 50 percent from the free throw line, making two of four but were outrebounded 40-25 on the day.

UTA shot 54.0 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. The Mavericks were nine of 11 from the charity stripe.