Jan. 15, 2015BEAUMONT, Texas - The Lamar Lady Cardinals celebrated the 30th anniversary of the first women's basketball game at the Montagne in grand style Thursday, rolling to an 83-60 win over visiting Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action.
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Lamar (7-9 overall, 4-1 Southland) had five players score in double figures, led by Baileigh O'Dell with 18 points. Dominique Edwards had her second consecutive double-double, and sixth of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
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"We're going to be tough to beat when we have five players in double figures," Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. "We were really worried about Southeastern Louisiana. We know they're a good team. We came out and gave a tremendous effort."
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The Lady Cardinals never trailed in this one. Lamar scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. With the win, Lamar improved to 227-143 all-time at the Montagne Center dating back to that first game, a 63-60 win over Nicholls on Jan. 14, 1985.
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O'Dell had 13 points in the first half to lead Lamar, as the Cardinals took a 37-28 lead into intermission. The Lady Lions (6-9, 2-2) never got closer than 10 points in the second half.
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The Lady Cardinals outscored Southeastern Louisiana 30-12 in points off turnovers, capitalizing on 23 giveaways by the Lady Lions.
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"Our defense is our big thing. We know defense wins games," O'Dell said. "It's something we take pride in."
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Lamar also dominated the paint, outscoring Southeastern Louisiana 46-22 in that area. The Lady Cardinals also held a 39-34 rebounding edge.
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"Our post play is getting where we need it to be," Harmony said. "That was huge for us tonight."
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Addesha Collins had 14 points for Lamar, JaMeisha Edwards had 11 points and Kiandra Bowers added 10 points. Shauna Long just missed out on joining the double-digit club, finishing with nine points.
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The Lady Cardinals shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the field, while holding Southeastern Louisiana to 38.2 percent (21-of-55).
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"We're getting better, but we haven't peaked yet," Harmony said. "We still have our best basketball ahead of us. You want to peak in February and March."
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Peaches Anderson led Southeastern Louisiana with 18 points, while Jameika Hoskins had 10 points in the loss.
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The Lady Cardinals don't have much time to savor the win, however. Lamar heads to Northwestern State for a showdown with the conference-leading Lady Demons (5-0 SLC) at 1 p.m. Saturday. That game will be broadcast live on www.LamarCardinals.com.
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Lamar's next home game is 7 p.m. Jan. 22 against Stephen F. Austin.
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