Nov. 30, 2005

BEAUMONT - Led by career-high scoring outputs by Chelsea Gugliotta and Dionne Pounds, the Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team grabbed their first win of the 2005-06 season, an 85-50 win over the Wiley College LadyCats at the Montagne Center Wednesday night.

Gugliotta set the tone early for Lamar, scoring 10 of the Lady Cardinals first 20 points as they raced out to a 20-6 lead in the first 10 and a half minutes of the game. She was able to work her way free in the post, and scored all of her points on easy lay-ups.

After jumping out to the early lead, Lamar was able to hold off Wiley with stingy defense that caused 21 first half turnovers. The Lady Cards defense helped them to a 43-23 lead at halftime, and provided a late game boost after the LadyCats began to crawl back into the game.

In the second half Wiley closed to within 12 points at 47-35 with 14:12 to play in the game. That was as close as Wiley would come though, as Lamar asserted themselves on the offensive end, outscoring the LadyCats 38-15 over the final 14 minutes of the game.

Strong free throw shooting by the Lady Cardinals was a major key to keeping the game out of reach, as they sunk 23 of their 24 attempts from the charity stripe. LaToya Carson led the way for Lamar, draining all 12 of her free throw attempts.

Gugliotta did the bulk of her damage in the first half, scoring 16 points on eight of 10 shooting in the opening period, and sank her only shot of the second half to finish 9-11 from the field for 18 points. Pounds on the other hand caught fire late in the second half, as she drained three 3-pointers and scored 15 of her career-high 18 points in second period.

Adding to the career-bests by Gugliotta and Pounds were Bridgette Brackens who scored 13 points, while Audrea Samuel and Carson each finished with 12 points.

The Lady Cardinals (1-2) will be in action again Friday night when they take on the Cotton Blossoms of Arkansas-Monticello in the Montagne Center at 7 p.m.