Nov. 30, 2004

BEAUMONT - Lamar's LaToya Carson posted her first career double-double, helping lift the Lady Cardinals to a 69-53 non-conference victory over Loyola-New Orleans on Saturday afternoon at the Montagne Center.

With the win, Lamar pushes its season record to 2-0 for the first time since the 1990-91 season in which the Lady Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. The win also snapped Loyola's four-game winning streak, dropping the Wolfpack to 5-4 on the year.

Carson, a sophomore from Long Beach, Mississippi, scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down a game and career-high 11 rebounds, while recording four steals and three assists. She knocked down 8-of-10 field goals including LU's only three-pointer.

In what appeared to be an instant replay of Monday's season opener, the Lady Cardinals started the game with a flourish, opening up a 10-0 lead in the first 4:43. The LU offense went cold for the next 10 minutes, allowing LUNO to trim the lead to one-point on two occasions.

Freshman Jana Mustard's first collegiate basket put Lamar up nine (27-18) with 1:26 left and the Lady Cardinals took a 27-22 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Lamar expanded its lead to 13 (40-27) over the first four minutes, but the Wolfpack countered with an 8-0 run to trim the lead to 40-35. LUNO's Kiely Schork connected on a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to fuel the run. She finished 3-of-19 from beyond the arc, setting a new Montagne Center record.

With 13:08 left in the game, junior Audrea Samuel sent home two of her 13 points on a 15-foot jumper to put the Lady Cardinals up 42-35. The lead swelled to 12 on back-to-back lay-ups by freshman Chelsea Gugliotta and the Lady Cardinals maintained a double-digit advantage until Dani Holland's jumper with 5:48 brought LUNO to within nine points.

That was as close as the Wolfpack would get, however, as Lamar outscored LUNO 14-7 over the last minutes of the game to secure the victory. Loyola-New Orleans tied South Alabama's 2003 Montagne Center record with 34 three-pointers attempted in the game, but the Lady Cardinals held the Wolfpack to a 23.5% three-point field goal clip (8-of-34) for the game.

LU's Gugliotta finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Beaumont product Shaquita Coffey snatched eight boards and dropped in four points.

Schork led LUNO with 11 points, while Joelle Bordelon finished with nine points, seven assists and two steals.

The Lady Cardinals conclude their season-opening homestand on Monday, Nov. 29 with a 7 p.m. non-conference game against Texas College in the Montagne Center.