March 11, 2010

KATY, Texas - Darika Hill notched her second consecutive double-double to lead the Lamar University women's basketball team to a 70-61 victory over UT Arlington in the semifinals of the State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Top-seeded Lamar (25-7) will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m. Friday at the Merrell Center in Katy.

Hill had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Cardinals, who defeated UT Arlington for the third time this season. It was Hill's fifth double-double of the season.

Jenna Plumley had 14 points and eight assists for Lamar, Trashanna Smith had 13 points and seven rebounds and Kalis Loyd contributed 10 points, six rebounds and five assist to the victory.

"We have a number of players who can finish, and that's what Darika, Jenna, Trashanna and Kalis did," Lamar coach Larry Tidwell said. "They came through and finished the game."

Meghan Nelson led fifth-seeded UT Arlington (15-16) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Tamara Simmons and Nicole Terral added 12 points apiece for the Mavericks.

The victory was a bit of revenge for the Lady Cardinals, who dropped a 67-62 decision to UT Arlington in last year's semifinals.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the No. 3 seed advanced to the championship game with a 74-66 win over Northwestern State earlier Thursday.

Friday's game will be the third meeting between the Lady Cardinals and Islanders, with the home team winning each of the first two meetings.

"Corpus Christi has a very good team," Tidwell said. "But we'll be ready."

Friday's championship game will be televised on Southland TV and broadcast live on KLVI Radio (560 AM). Harold Mann will handle the radio play-by-play duties.

LAMAR