Feb. 4, 2009
BEAUMONT - - The Lamar University women's basketball team used a dominant performance by senior guard Nikki Williams to coast to a 79-61 win over the University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears Wednesday night at the Montagne Center.
The win snaps a two-game skid for the Lady Cardinals and boosts their season record to 14-7 and gives them a 5-3 record in Southland Conference play. Central Arkansas drops to 6-15 overall and 2-6 with the loss.
After a slow start to the game, the Lady Cardinals began to warm up offensively, taking control of the game with an 18-6 run midway though the first half. The run was sparked by a Nikki Williams three pointer with 9:45 to play, and capped off by an Ashley Crawford layup with 2:33 to play, giving Lamar a 33-19 lead.
After the two teams traded baskets during the final two minutes of the half, the Lady Cardinals took a 12 point lead into the locker room.
In the second half LU built their lead to 15 points on an Emily Spickler three pointer on their first possession, asserting control of the game. The Sugar Bears made a small run to cut the LU lead to eight points at 47-39 with 14:12 to play, but the Lady Cardinals quickly responded.
Lamar built the lead back up to double digits with an 8-4 run over the next two minutes then extended the lead to 17 points at 62-45 on layup and free throw by Trashanna Smith with 10:26 to play.
The Lady Cardinals never allowed UCA to get any closer than 13 points in the final 10 minutes of the game, as they cruised to the 18-point victory 79-61.
Nikki Williams led the Lady Cardinals with a season-high 24 points on 8-12 shooting, while going 5-7 from behind the three point line. In addition to her stellar shooting, Williams added nine points and six rebounds. Darika Hill posted her third straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Ang Green scored 10 points as well.
As a team the Lady Cards knocked down 49.2 percent of their shots, draining 31 of 63 from the field, while their defense held the Sugar Bears to 36.1 percent shooting, a 22-61 performance. Lamar also won the battle on the boards, out rebounding UCA 44-30.
The Lady Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they host Stephen F. Austin at the Montagne Center.
