Feb. 23, 2006
BEAUMONT - With their 2006 Southland Conference hopes on the line, the Lamar University women's basketball team calmly iced their game against Northwestern State with clutch free throw shooting, which led the Lady Cardinals to a 66-62 win over the Lady Demons.
Holding on to a one point lead at 58-57, senior Audrea Samuel sank two free throws to give LU a three point lead. Moments later LaToya Carson knocked down a pair of freebies to give Lamar their largest lead of the night at 62-57.
The Lady Demons responded with a jumper by Chassidy Jones with 48 seconds to play, but Carson again lifted the Lady Cards with a pair of free throws with eight seconds to play. Northwestern quickly answered Carson's free throws with a three pointer by Sheronda Bell with three seconds on the clock, but Lamar sealed the win with two free throws by Valeisa Crenshaw with two seconds to play.
The Lady Cardinals, the top free throw shooting team in the SLC, sank eight free throws in the final 1:54 of the game, and were 20 for 23 from the charity stripe for the game. They sank 12 of their 15 free throws in the second half, shooting 87 percent for the game. Northwestern State made just 11 of 16 from the free throw line.
The Lady Demons opened an 11 point lead midway through the first half, using an 11-0 run to break open a 23-12 lead. Lamar responded to the Northwestern outburst by slowly chipping away at the Lady Demon lead for the remainder of the half. The Lady Cards managed to get within three points at the half, trailing 30-27.
For the game, Lamar was led by Carson's 17 points and seven rebounds, while Samuel and Bridgette Brackens each added 12 points. Freshman point guard Janique Garrett also had a big night, scoring eight points and dishing out a career-high eight assists.
Northwestern State was led by Bell's 21 points, while Chassidy Jones posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Also scoring in double figures for the Lady Demons was Tena Matthews who scored 10.
The Lady Cardinals allowed Northwestern to shoot 44.2 percent from the field, while knocking down just 37.5 percent of their shots, but out-rebounded the Lady Demons 36 to 35.
The Lady Cards had a solid night on the defensive end of the floor as well, picking up 12 steals and blocking five shots. The Lady Cardinals also won the turnover battle, with just 14 give a ways to NSU's 20.
The win boosts the Lady Cards record to 4-9 in SLC play, tying them with NSU and idle Sam Houston State in the conference rankings. The teams are now in a three-way tie for eighth place, with Lamar currently holding the tie breaker over both teams by virtue of winning their only meetings this season.
The Lady Cardinals will be in action again Saturday night at the Montagne Center, when they take on the Lady Indians of Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. Lamar will be celebrating senior night, honoring the six seniors on the 2006 team.
