Feb. 21, 2009
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Trashanna Smith chose the right time to have the best game of her career, as the sophomore forward had career-highs of 21 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Lamar University women's basketball team to a 80-77 overtime win over Northwestern State at Prather Coliseum.
The Lady Cardinals improve to 18-7 overall and 9-3 in Southland Conference play with the win, while snapping the Lady Demons 17-game home winning streak, which was tied for fifth-best in the NCAA. Northwestern State falls to 15-10 on the year and 7-5 in SLC play with the loss.
For the second straight game the Lady Cardinals used clutch shooting on their last offensive possession to force overtime. Darika Hill, who was Wednesday night's hero, drained a three pointer with 32 seconds to play to tie the game at 66-66 forcing the extra period.
Lamar opened the overtime with an 8-0 run during the first 4:05, but the Lady Demons refused to let their home winning streak go down without a fight. Northwestern responded in the final 55 seconds with an 11-4 run to get within one point with three seconds to play.
After the Lady Demons fouled Nikki Williams with two ticks remaining on the clock the senior guard calmly stepped to the free throw line and knocked down both freebies to give Lamar the three point advantage.
Northwestern State's final attempt from the field was a half court heave by point guard Demetria White which fell short of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
In the first half the Lady Cardinals took and early 5-0 lead, but the home team used a strong performance to open as much as an eight point advantage at 29-21 with 3:35 to play. Lamar used a 12-3 run of their own in the final three minutes to take a 33-32 lead, but a pair of White free throws with six seconds to play gave Northwestern a one point advantage at halftime.
For the game the Lady Cardinals post players dominated Northwestern State, led by Smith who poured in the 21 points and 22 rebounds. The 22 boards tied a Prather Coliseum record for rebounds by a single player, while she is the first LU player to grab 20 or more rebounds since March 2, 1993 when Travesa Gant hauled in 21 rebounds at South Alabama. It also ties for the fourth-most boards in a game by a Lady Cards player, tying her with Carolyn Ford and Kara Audrey.
Hill and Brittney Williams also dominated offensively for Lamar, scoring 18 and 14 points respectively. Nikki Williams finished the game with 12 points, eight of which came in overtime.
As a team the Lady Cards finished with a 45.3 percent shooting performance, while Northwestern State shot 41.4 percent from the field. Lamar also owned the glass, out rebounding the Lady Demons 45 to 34.
The Lady Cards will be back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Arlington, Texas for a showdown with league leader UT Arlington at 7 p.m.
