Feb. 7, 2009
BEAUMONT - In a game with two halves, it was a tale of four quarters on Saturday afternoon at the Montagne Center that led to the Lamar University women's basketball team posting a 71-52 win over Stephen F. Austin.
The win, the 13th straight at home for LU, gives the Lady Cardinals a 15-7 overall record and boosts their record in Southland Conference play to 6-3. For SFA, the loss drops them to 10-11 on the year and 5-4 in conference play.
In the first 10 minutes of the game the Lady Cards could not buy a bucket, while the Ladyjacks drained almost every shot they took in route to an 11-0 start to the game. After a Darika Hill three pointer got Lamar on the board at the 13:55 mark of the first half, SFA extended their lead to 21-10 with 10 minutes to play with a 10-7 run.
After a layup by Jordan Ford put the Jacks up 23-10 with 9:06 to play, The Lady Cardinals defense went into overdrive, while their offense caught fire. Lamar proceeded to go on an 18-2 run to finish the half, as LU did not allow SFA to hit a shot from the field. The Ladyjacks went 0-13 from the field, and Lamar used a 15-0 run over the final 6:13 to take a 28-25 lead into the break.
At the beginning of the second half, Stephen F. Austin hot offensively much like they did in the first half. During the first 6:35 of the second period the Ladyjacks used a 15-6 run to open up a six point lead, and looked to be in control of the game.
Just like the first half though, Lamar refused to let SFA run away with the game, turning the offensive firepower back on during the final 10 minutes of the game. The Lady Cards took a one point lead with 10:02 to play, and after two back and forth minutes the game was knotted 47-47 with 8:15 to play.
In the final eight minutes of the ballgame though, the Lady Cardinals used a 24-5 run to blow the Ladyjacks out of the water and post the 71-52 win. The run started with one free throw by Nikki Williams and one by Ang Green, then extended to a 10-0 run give Lamar a 57-57 lead with 3:44 to play. Lamar continued to score quickly in the final 3:44, while SFA could not answer the onslaught. Lamar finished the game on a 14-3 run for their second straight 19-point victory.
Hill led the way for the Lady Cardinals, posting her fourth straight double-double, scoring a game-high 15 points while grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. Four other Lady Cardinals finished in double digits in the scoring column, as Nikki Williams and Brittney Williams each tallied 14 points, Green scored 12 and Trashanna Smith finished with 10. Agnija Reke had a masterful performance off the bench for Lamar, passing out nine assists, while shipping in with four points.
As a team the Lady Cardinals rebounded from their 0-10 shooting performance to start the game, draining 25 of 55 shots from the field for a 45.5 percent effort. Stephen F. Austin, who started the game by hitting seven of their first nine shots, finished the game with a 20-61, 32.8 percent, shooting performance. The Ladyjacks won the battle on the boards, out rebounding LU 42-37, but Lamar had just 10 turnovers to SFA's 16.
The Lady Cards will be off on Wednesday and will return to action on Saturday, February 14, when they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on the Bobcats of Texas State in a 2 p.m. Valentines Day showdown.
