Sloppy Cowgirls stop Corpus
Published 9:45 pm Thursday, January 15, 2026
At least the Cowgirls’ defense traveled.
Behind a solid defensive performance, McNeese State’s women’s basketball team held on to first place Thursday night as they opened a three-game road trip in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Cowgirls improved to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in the Southland Conference, a game ahead of four teams in the league standings with the 59-42 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi inside the Hilliard Center.
Half of the Islanders’ points came in the fourth quarter when McNeese went to its bench to rest players for Saturday’s game at Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
It was McNeese’s sixth straight victory, all in conference play, and eighth in its last nine games. The Islanders fell to 2-13, 1-7 with the loss. But it wasn’t always pretty.
“Not up to par,” said McNeese head coach Ayla Guzzardo. “It was not up to our standards. However, a win is a win in the Southland Conference, and we will take it.”
McNeese won in a blowout despite making just 21 of 62 shots from the field, at 34 percent. The Cowgirls did manage to hit on 8 of 15 3-pointers.
They also forced 29 turnovers, 18 of which came off steals. That led to 20 of the Cowgirls’ points.
Arianna Patton led all scorers with 11 points, connecting on 3 of 4 long-range shots. Lexi Alexander tossed in 10 while Jalencia Pierrie added eight. K’Nar Holliday led the Islanders with 10 points.
“Very thankful for the win, but at the same time it’s not how we want to play games,” said Guzzardo. “It was frustrating at times.”
Both offensives struggled mightily from the start, with neither team scoring a basket until Alexander connected from the floor on a traditional 3-point play 4:46 into the game.
When Alexander hit the free throw, the Cowgirls had the lead at 5-1 and never looked back. They finished the first quarter up 11-3.
McNeese scored the last nine points of the half to extend its lead to 28-13 at the break. A 12-0 spurt, fueled by a pair of Patton threes, at the end of the third quarter gave McNeese a 45-21 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cowgirls will have to play better Saturday when they take on the Vaqueros, who are one of the four clubs a game behind McNeese. Rio Grande Valley improved to 9-8, 6-2 on Thursday by beating Southeastern 78-65.
Charlotte O’Keefe led the way for the Vaqueros with 22 points and 22 rebounds.
“Hopefully we can turn it up a bit,” said Guzzardo. “RGV is a great team. We have to go back to the drawing board and rev it up for a one-day prep to get ready.”
The game will tipoff at 2 p.m. RGV has won four straight games heading into the showdown.