Jan. 23, 2014
ABILENE, Texas - In a game that saw 26 3-pointers find the mark, Gia Ayers drained the last one, and the biggest one, to give the Lamar Lady Cardinals an 85-83 win over host Abilene Christian in a Southland Conference women's basketball game Thursday evening.
Ayers nailed a dagger of a trey with 12.5 seconds left to give the Lady Cardinals an 84-83 lead, silencing the Moody Coliseum crowd as Lamar roared back from an eight-point deficit in the final 3:23. Ayers had a game-high 25 points as Lamar (10-8 overall, 5-2) won for the fifth time in the last six games.
"Gia had ice in her veins," Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. "That shot was clutch."
JaMeisha Edwards had 23 points for Lamar before fouling out, while Caroline Adesulu had the first double-double of her career, finishing with career highs of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Adesulu, who was playing in her 45th career game, had never even attempted a 3-pointer before Thursday. But even she got into the act, going 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Adesulu drained a free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
"Caroline was unbelievable," Harmony said. "Not only did she score some big points, she grabbed some huge rebounds and made some big defensive plays."
Lamar was 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) from downtown, while Abilene Christian (11-8, 2-2) was 14-of-45 (31.1 percent).
Suzzy Dimba led Abilene Christian with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Renata Marquez had 22 points and Alexis Mason had 20 points for the Wildcats, who suffered their second straight home loss after opening the season 7-0 at Moody Coliseum.
Lamar, which led 52-46 at halftime, was down 80-72 with 3:23 left before closing out the game on a 13-3 run, with Ayers scoring nine of those points.
Lamar returns to action at 2 p.m. Saturday at Southland Conference newcomer Incarnate Word. That game will air live on KLVI (AM 560) and be simulcast on www.Lamar Cardinals.com. The Lady Cardinals host Houston Baptist at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 30.
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