Dec. 1, 2010
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Ang Green's 15 points weren't nearly enough for the Lamar University women's basketball team in a 99-55 loss at ninth-ranked Tennessee in a non-conference game before an announced crowd of 10,692 Wednesday evening.
Monique Whittaker added nine points and seven rebounds for the Lady Cardinals (5-2), who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. Jasmin Henderson finished with eight points for Lamar.
Meighan Simmons led Tennessee (7-1) with 28 points. Shekinna Stricklen had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Angie Bjorklund came off the bench to contribute 15 points.
"Coming in to play Tennessee on their home court is certainly an experience all our players will remember, but I hope they don't remember the score much past tonight," Lamar coach Larry Tidwell said. "I've been here before when I was the associate head coach at TCU and it is a great atmosphere, great fans, great team, great coaches, so they have the complete package. To sit up here and tell you I'm not disappointed, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm very disappointed. We have a team that won a conference championship last year and a lot of those people are returning."
The Lady Vols never trailed, racing out to an early 12-0 lead and never looking back. Lamar trailed 49-27 at halftime and couldn't get any closer. Tennessee held a 54-40 rebounding edge and committed just 19 turnovers as compared to Lamar's 29.
Tidwell is hopeful the Lady Cardinals will learn from this experience.
"We play these games to raise money. It pays for our summer school so our student athletes can graduate on time. I've been here four years and we have had 11 of 12 athletes graduate on time, and the one who has not graduated will finish up this spring," Tidwell said. "This is the seventh arena since I've been at Lamar that the team has either went to the Final Four or won the national championship. The only way you are going to raise your program to a level you want it to be is you have to come in and experience this and continue to get your players to believe in what you are doing."
The Lady Cardinals need to regroup quickly, as they face New Mexico at 9 p.m. Friday in the first round of the ASU Classic at Tempe, Ariz. That game will be broadcast live on the official Web site of the Lamar athletic department: www.LamarCardinals.com.
LAMAR
