COMMERCE – A 27-12 advantage in the third quarter was the difference for the McNeese Cowgirls to win their 15^th straight game and down the East Texas A&M University women's basketball team, 71-64, at the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House, halting the Lions' five-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon.
 
Scoring 13 of the first 15 points of the game, the Lions led for the entirety of the first half, but fell behind in the third. East Texas A&M falls to 12-11 on the season and 8-8 in Southland Conference play, while McNeese is 22-4 overall and 16-1 in SLC action, having won games in the series this year.
 
Coming into the game, the Cowgirls were holding their opponents to score 51 points per game, which was second best in the country.
 
After the opening 13-2 run through the first 4:35 of the game by the Lions, the Cowgirls did get the deficit down to seven at the end of the first quarter, but the Lions had a lead as big as 12 in the second quarter. McNeese ended the half on a 4-1 run to trim the deficit to 31-22 at the half.
 
Coming out of the half, the first seven points were scored by the Cowgirls to come within two. The Lions did not record their first field goal of the half till the 5:33 mark. A 7-0 run gave the Cowgirls a 39-35 lead with 2:55 left in the third, their first lead of the game. McNeese had a lead as big as 14 in the fourth quarter.
 
Tiani Ellison (Durant, Okla.) just missed her fifth double-double of the season, totaling 24 points and nine rebounds, while Reza Po (San Bruno, Calif.) scored 11 along with six assists, and 10 points were scored by Cora Horvath (Oberwart, Austria).
 
Four of the five starters scored in double digits for the Cowgirls with Jalencia Pierre leading the way, scoring 17 points.
 

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The Lions head on the road to face Northwestern State on Monday at 4 p.m. before returning home to host HCU and UIW in the final home games of the season next weekend.