LA CHARLES, La. – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team picked up a crucial road win as the Southland Conference Tournament is near. The Cardinals knocked down McNeese State University, 69-45, on Thursday. The Cowgirls were tied for fifth in the conference standings prior to tonight's game.

"We're really proud of our team," said head coach Jeff Dow. "To only have eight players available to play, and to play that well from start to finish, speaks volumes about how ready they were to play and how determined they were to win this game. It was an unbelievable effort defensively to hold them to 45 points on their home floor, 29 percent from the field and 1-19 from three (5%)."
 
UIW forced McNeese into 16 turnovers on the night, which led to 17 points for the Cardinals. Freshman Jorja Elliott was a difference-maker for the Cardinals, putting up a game-changing 30 points and seven rebounds.

"It was great to see how well we shared the ball. Twenty assists on 26 made field goals is tremendous. Jorja obviously was phenomenal from the field and Nina and Myra came up huge in combining for 14 assists, only one turnover and seven steals."
 
Elliott started the game 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to tie the game at nine and keep the Cardinals in the contest. Myra Bell found her rhythm from the three as well to give UIW a one-point lead (12-11). Brenna Perez then drained two free throws and converted on a bucket inside to cap off a 7-0 Cardinal run (16-11). The Cowgirls snuck back within one point to end the quarter 20-19.
 
Another Elliott three began the second quarter 23-21 for the Cardinals. UIW then fell into a shooting slump, shooting 22 percent in the quarter, however, the Cardinals' defense kept them in the game as only 20 points were scored between the two teams. Breelyn Sanborn and Elliott each knocked down a 3-pointer as the Cardinals ended the half with a 32-27 edge.
 
A 6-0 run started the third quarter for the Cardinals with transition buckets from Nina De Leon Negron and Elliott followed by a jumper from Bell to hand UIW an 11-point lead (38-27). The Cowgirls called a timeout and came back out in a full-court press, but the Cardinals were not phased, pushing their lead to the largest thus far and ending the third up, 53-38.
 
The Cardinals did not back down in the fourth as they kept applying pressure to win the game, 69-45.
 
FOLLOW ALONG 
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