Dec. 29, 2007

EDINBURG, Texas - The Lamar University women's basketball team used a solid second half and clutch rebounding in the closing seconds of the game to pull out a 67-64 win over the Lafayette Leopards at the Battle at the Border Tournament hosted by the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas.

With their two leading scorers on the bench for the final 1:54, Lamar held off Lafayette to pick up the 67-64 win, improving to 7-5 on the year. Tamara Abalde had fouled out of the game with 4:59 to play and Brittney Williams was sidelined by a dislocated finger, leaving LU without the two who had combined for 37 points and 14 rebounds.

The Lady Cards however did not fold under the adversity, as they outscored Lafayette 5-2 to finish off the game. Vickie Toney gave Lamar a one point lead by sinking one of two free throws, and Aida Bakhos added a pair of free throws to give LU a three point lead at 65-62.

After a Vanessa Van De Venter jumper cut the LU lead to one point at 65-64, the Lady Cardinals got three offensive rebounds before Bakhos knocked down a layup and was fouled with 6.7 seconds to play. After Bakhos missed the ensuing free throw, Lafayette had one final shot at tying the game.

A timeout at midcourt with 3.5 seconds to play put LC in position for a three pointer at the buzzer, but Jessica Spicer's attempt from the top of the key was too hard off the back of the iron.

After allowing Lafayette to shoot 45.7 percent in the first half, the Lamar defense turned up the pressure and held Lafayette to just 26.9 percent from the field. The Lady Cardinals on the other hand picked up their offensive game, shooting 48 percent over the final 20 minutes after shooting 37.5 percent in the first half.

In the first half the Lady Cardinals could not get their offense going early on, but closed the half on an 11-5 run to cut the LC lead to 39-35 at halftime. Abalde and Brittney Williams lead the way for Lamar in the first half, scoring 14 and 10 points respectively.

For the game the Lady Cardinals were led by Brittney Williams who scored 21 points on 8-13 shooting, while Abalde added 16 points and eight rebounds. Nikki Williams and Bakhos also scored in double digits, scoring 11 points each.

The Lady Cardinals will be back in action next Wednesday, January 2, 2008, when they take on the University of Houston Lady Cougars at Hofheinz Pavilion at 5:30 p.m.