March 6, 2006

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Lamar University women's basketball team gave No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin all they could handle in the opening round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Tournament, falling 54-53 in Nacogdoches.

The Lady Cardinals (11-16) held a lead for all but 12 seconds in the game, as SFA took a one point advantage on a free throw by Nikki Carr with 12.2 seconds to play in the game. The sophomore then missed her second free throw attempt giving, LU a shot to pull off the upset.

After a Chelsea Gugliotta rebound, freshman Janique Garret raced down court for a lay up which rolled off the rim. After a scramble for the ball ended up in the possession on Lamar, the Lady Cards had one last shot with 0.7 seconds to play. Garrett found LaToya Carson on the wing for a three point attempt, but the shot was just short, finding the side of the rim.

The Lady Cardinals dominated the opening half and a majority of the second half, before SFA slowly began to chip away at the Lamar lead. The lead grew to as much as 12 point in the first half, as Lamar's defense shut out the No. 1 seed in the opening 20 minutes.

Carson led the way for Lamar with a double-double, scoring 17 points and 12 rebounds while blocking two shots and collecting two steals. Audrea Samuel also had a solid performance, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards, while Chelsea Gugliotta picked up eight points and seven rebounds.

Stephen F. Austin was led by LaToya Mills' 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Kirby Killingsworth and Britany Vinson added 14 and 10 points respectively.

The Lady Cardinals out rebounded SFA 45 to 43, while out shooting the Ladyjacks 37.3 percent to 33.3 percent.