Box Score

The Louisiana College women's basketball team returned to conference in the H.O. West Fieldhouse Thursday night with a 75-60 win over Texas Lutheran, this following a 1-1 showing at a non-conference NCAA Division III tournament in Alabama prior to the new year.
 
It was a win that kept the Lady Cats (10-1, 5-0 ASC) perfect in American Southwest Conference play, but one that did not sit well with third-year coach Jason Tinsley.
 
"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day," Tinsley said. "We were able to get a lift from some key players tonight but overall we struggled to find our rhythm. We are at a point in the season that we should know what production we can expect from every player, every night. We are not getting that type of consistency at this point. We need to find it if we want to compete for a division championship and a conference championship."
 
Tinsley did point to the solid efforts of three players - sophomore Skylar Chenevert, senior Natosha Gottlieb and sophomore Kala Chenier - as bright spots on the night.
Chenevert scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting on the night while Gottlieb contributed a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double and Chenier 14 points.
 
"Skylar had a pretty good game," Tinsley said. "She shot the ball well from the field and did a better job of protecting the ball. Kala had been in a little bit of a shooting slump lately but she shot her way out of it tonight. Tosh did a great job rebounding the ball for us. Those three really picked us up as a team. If they had performed on the offensive end like they did, the outcome might have been different."
 
In the rebounding category, the Lady Cats were outrebounded 44-42, the fifth time in the last six games that LC has been bested on the boards.
 
"We definitely need to fix some things in practice and bring it into our games," Chenevert said. "These are the games that matter and we have to be at our best. Rebounding is a big key. We've been outrebounded five of our last six games. That's no way to play if you want to win a title."
 
Tinsley said that effort on the team level might be to blame.
 
"Collectively, we are not playing tough basketball right now," Tinsley said. "I can't put my finger on it. We're just missing something right now. We've got some girls who give you everything they have, every time out. But we also have some girls who need to step up their games in a big way."
 
Texas Lutheran, which fell to 4-9 overall and 2-5 in conference play, had two players score in double figures, Katy Scott with 17 points and nine boards and Italy Taylor with 15.

Louisiana College returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. with a game against Schreiner University. The men will follow at 3 p.m.