Kalis Loyd matched her season-high with 28 points to lift the Lamar University women's basketball team to a 68-52 win over UT Arlington in a Southland Conference game Saturday.

Loyd also led Lamar with eight rebounds as the Lady Cardinals (9-8 overall, 1-2) Southland snapped a two-game losing streak. Monique Whittaker added 18 points for Lamar.

The Lady Cardinals never trailed in the contest, scoring the first six points of the game and never looking back. Lamar shot a blistering 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field in the first half, including 7-of-14 (50 percent) from 3-point range.

"We shot the ball well today, and it's amazing how much better your defense gets when you're shooting well," said Lamar coach Larry Tidwell, who picked up his 99th career win. "This was a good win for us.""

Lamar colled off in the second half, finishing with a 42.3 shooting percentage (22-of-52), but the Lady Cardinals never allowed UT Arlington (2-12, 0-3) to get into a rhythm. Lamar forced the Mavericks to commit 31 turnovers, the most by an LU opponent this season.

Kiara Parker led UT Arlington with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Taklyah Langford finished with 12 points.

The game marked Lamar's final appearance in Texas Hall. UT Arlington, which is leaving the Southland Conference for the Western Athletic Conference at the end of the season, is constructing a new on-campus arena that will be ready in February.

The Lady Cardinals are idle until 2 p.m. Saturday when they travel to Central Arkansas for a Southland Conference game. That is the opening contest of a doubleheader that will see the Lamar men take on Central Arkansas at 4 p.m.

"We'll go into that game with some confidence," Tidwell said. "Getting that first win was important."

LAMAR