Jan. 6, 2005
HAMMOND, La. - A career-high 25 points by Lamar's LaToya Carson helped the Lady Cardinals snap a three-game losing streak and top Southeastern Louisiana, 76-56, in both teams Southland Conference opener at the University Center.
Lamar improved to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in league play with the win. The Lady Cardinal victory was also the first-ever in Hammond, ending a nine-game winless streak at SLU. The Lady Lions fell to 5-6 on the year and 0-1 in the SLC. The Lady Cardinals return to action on Saturday when they host Texas State in a 2 p.m. SLC contest at the Montagne Center.
In addition to her scoring outburst, Carson also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. The Long Beach, Mississippi native nailed 9-of-14 field goals, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, while dishing out three assists.
Entering the second half, Lamar built its 13-point halftime advantage to 14 on a jumper by Shaquita Coffey with 17:34 left to play. Both teams were scoreless over the next three minutes, until SLU's Dacia McGowan sank a pair of free throws to trim the LU lead to 12. During the next four minutes the Lady Lions chipped away at their deficit, pulling within six (38-44) at the 10:49 mark after a jumper by Cara Porter.
That was as close as SLU would get, however, as Lamar overcame early second half shooting woes to rebuild its double-digit lead and eventually win by the 20-point margin. LU sank 23-of-33 (69.7%) free throws in the game, including 14 free throws in the final 6:23, which helped clinch the victory.
Junior Audrea Samuel, a forward from Beaumont, scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and connected on all six free throw attempts during the frame. She finished with a flawless 8-of-8 performance from the charity stripe, while adding three rebounds and two blocked shots. Samuel's pair of rejections gave her 61 for her career, tying her with Barbara Hickey on LU's career blocked shots list.
The Lady Cardinals opened the game with a 9-2 run fueled by seven points from Carson. Behind a blistering 53.8 first-half shooting percentage in which LU connected on 14-of-26 attempts from the floor, Lamar built as much as a 12-point lead (18-6) by the 9:53 mark.
SLU responded to the LU opening with a 10-2 run of its own over the next 4:09, during which time Lamar was only able to muster a pair of Samuel free throws. After more than four and a half minutes without a field goal, Carson broke LU's offensive silence with back-to-back jumpers, pushing the lead to eight (24-16) with 4:44 left in the half.
The Lady Lions Nakeya Downing hit all three of SLU's field goals in the final 4:14 of the half, but Lamar countered with 13 points of its own during the same time frame. Junior Megan McDougald scored six of her eight first-half points during that time, three of which came by way of a traditional three-point play. Senior Demela Lowe's free throws with 0.3 seconds left gave Lamar a 37-24 lead at the half.
McDougald, a junior from The Woodlands, finished the game with season-highs of 12 points and eight rebounds. She also connected on her first career three-pointer at the 12:28 mark of the first half.
The Lady Cards finished the game with a 44.4 field goal percentage (24-of-54), including a scorching 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from beyond the arc. Lamar also dominated the glass with a 57 to 46 edge over SLU. LU eclipsed the 50-rebound plateau for the seventh time this season and the Lady Cards also maintained their perfect record when outrebounding opponents.
SLU's Downing equaled Carson's scoring output and also hauled in a game-high 16 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. She added a game-high four blocked shots in 36 minutes of action. Dacia McGowan added 11 points and five boards, while Brooke Necaise chipped in with 10 points.
The Lady Lions were limited to a dismal 23.6 field goal percentage (17-of-72), including a 19.0 percent clip in the second half on 8-of-42 attempts.
