The Lady Colonels broke a four-game losing streak by defeating the McNeese State Cowgirls 53 to 46 last Thursday night.
The Lady Colonels, who led throughout the game, got off to an explosive start by building a 14 to 0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. They had strong inside performances from senior forwards Jennifer Posey and Mandy Broussard.
The high-low post to Jen Posey was open a lot, and we took every opportunity there was to go inside,” Louise “Do” Bonin, head women’s basketball coach, said.
Posey, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, said that this was a very important game for their confidence level.
“We wanted to come out and lay it all on the line. Tonight, we were coming into the game just one spot ahead McNeese, and we knew that we needed to win this game. It was just a total team effort,” Posey said.
Mandy Broussard led the Lady Colonels with 16 points and six rebounds.
“Coming into practice the other day, coach Bonin challenged us and said that this game is a defining moment for our season. We had a sense of urgency tonight, and we knew that we had to execute,” Broussard said.
The Lady Colonels got very defensive in containing McNeese’s two leading scorers, Kellie Burbridge and Regina Spivey.
“We knew that coming into the game McNeese would utilize their big weapons. With overall good team defense, we matched up very well with them,” Broussard said.
Senior guard Crescent Washington and sophomore guards Lisa Lawrence and Jennifer Gipson kept the game in their favor with fast-paced play.
In the second half, McNeese began to claw their way back into the game by smothering the Lady Colonels with a very effective full-court press.
“There is some improvement needed in our play against the full-court press. I give McNeese a lot of credit because they fought to the very end, and they used their quickness to their advantage. We struggled a bit, but our girls maintained their poise and pulled this one out,’ Bonin said.
The Lady Colonels shot 58 percent from the free throw line. A few misses at the line enabled the Cowgirls to close the gap considerably.
“We lead the lead in free-throw shooting at 70 percent. The game would not have been so close had we shot better at the line. However, a four-game losing streak undoubtedly can cause a team to play under pressure. Hopefully, this win got some of the cobwebs and the nerves out of our system,” Bonin said.
Washington, who finished with a solid ten points, played a key defensive role in neutralizing the surging Cowgirls.
“I really thought we came together as a strong unit tonight. We played hard and turned up the defensive pressure late in the game to get this win,” Washington said.
The Lady Colonels held the Cowgirls to 35 percent shooting on the night.
Southeastern 63, Nicholls 59
The Lady Colonels erased a 23-point deficit to nearly defeat Southeastern on the road Saturday.
Southeastern (3-13, 2-7 SLC) pounced the Lady Colonels around early with the Lady Colonels unable to score for the first seven and a half minutes of the contest. The Colonels made just two baskets in the first 10 minutes of play and trailed 19-3 at halftime.
In a press release from Sports Information, Bonin said the Lady Colonels worst enemy was getting off to a slow start on the road.
“We spotted them nine points and then next we’re down 19-3 and that is just what we didn’t want to do on the road is get off to a slow start,” Bonin said.
“It was just one of those games I don’t think it was meant for us to win.”
Broussard led the Lady Colonels with 20 points, senior guard Deandra Walter scored 9 and freshman forward Ami Benya scored eight.
The Lady Colonels now start a four-game home streak tonight as they host Southwest Texas at 5:45 p.m. in Stopher Gym.