Beeville, Tx- The lady cougars have had one of their best seasons in history up to date. With 8 wins in the books, three conference wins and their first trip as a seeded rank to make it to Regionals for first time in history. "This team is very fun to be around and coach. They have played very hard and can really score the ball this year. We have guards everywhere who attract attention on dribble penetration and we are fourth in NJCAA in made three pointers so everyone can shoot. We have battled all year but when we get our full team on the floor it is great. Just great young ladies who work hard and buy in."- Coach Purswell said
The lady cougars started off 3-0 for first time in school history beating Howard, Southwestern Christian College, and LSU-Eunice. Injuries hurt them the rest of the first semester never seeing the same 13 after giving top 25 Temple a run for their money in the first three quarters. The first semester ended at 3-7 and it was break time.
The lady cougars came out of break splitting their first two games and then heading into conference play. The lady cougars saw a 3-13 conference record beating Paris and Jacksonville twice. Against Paris the lady cougars put up 101 which is most in school history against an NJCAA Division 1 opponent. They played Blinn to 8 points at their place on Saturday who won the regional tournament.
Individually JayDee Zamora is leading NJCAA Region 14 in 3 point percentage and number 18 in NJCAA in 3-point percentage. JayDee also finished honorable mention all-conference selection. JayDee finished with 12 PPG, on 40.9 FG%, 41.8 3PTFG%, and 72.2 FT%. She also averaged 4.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.4 SPG. Eliza Rodriguez has had a Coastal Bend game record of 14 assists. Eliza Rodriguez also finished as Region 14 All-Conference selection. She finished the season averaging 12.5 PPG on 44.6 FG%. She also average 5.3 RPG and 4.5 APG. Notable sophomore losses include Jordan Shephard 11.4 PPG on 37.7 FG%, Jenesis Nichols who shot 100% from FT line, Alexes Rocha who shot 31.5% from downtown, Ja'Nyla Kennedy who averged 8.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG, Cieara Dinwiddie who shot 29.8% from 3-point line, Sydney DeDe who averaged 4 PPG and 2.8 RPG as sixth woman, Mariella Gonzales who played two sports, and JayDee Zamora who led league in 3-point percentage as mentioned earlier. The lady Cougars had five freshman who contributed a lot to the team as well. Diane Lara from Laredo, Britzeida Snachez from Rio Grande City, Eliza Rodriguez from Rio Hondo, Tyra Thompson from San Antonio, and Treasure Upson from Columbus. "This team was so connected and had so much chemistry. I will miss them so much as a collective unit." – Coach said
"Individual accolades come from the strength of the team and this is just all around a very strong team for us. Everyone contributes everyday."- Coach Purswell said
The Lady Cougars punched their ticket as the 8th seed to the Regional tournament. This marks the second time they have finished as an 8th seed in the conference. The first 2020-21 where they played the 9th seed for a bid and lost to Bossier Parish. The 2018-19 campaign saw
the Lady Cougars tie for 8th spot again and lose a play in game against Paris. This was the first time to play a seeded matchup and the Lady Cougars gave number one seed Angelina a lot to handle. "We know we do not rebound because we are undersized and defending posts is a tough task. So our main goals were 75 plus field goal attempts and 12 made 3-pointers. We shot 68 shots and hit 11 3-pointers. I'm super proud of the way these girls battled every single time out but especially in the Regional Tournament. There is history behind us and will be history made in front of us but these girls made a lot of history here at CBC." – Coach Purswell said
In the regional game on March 13th in Tyler. The lady Cougars fail by a final of 75-63 to Angelina. There were points that they were down by 20 plus and just kept battling. The Lady Cougars were led by Sydney DeDe with 14 points. Behind her Ja'Nyla Kennedy had 11 points, Alexes Rocha and Eliza Rodriguez both had 10 points. JayDee Zamora and Alexes Rocha both had 5 rebounds for Coastal Bend and JayDee Zamora finished with 5 assists as well. "Not the ending anyone wants but only one champion of NJCAA can be crowned and only one NJCAA Region 14 tournament winner. We are so proud of all this team's accomplishments and accolades. Appreciate all of your hard work and looking forward to your futures. Also thank you Coach H for all you did for us this year." - Coach Purswell final remarks