BEAUMONT, Texas - JaMeisha Edwards poured in a career-high 35 points as the Lamar Lady Cardinals clinched no worse than a tie for second place in the Southland Conference with an 81-64 win over visiting Incarnate Word on Saturday.

Edwards had 25 points in the first half for Lamar (16-12 overall, 13-4 Southland) as Lamar took a 50-35 lead into intermission.

"The worst thing for JaMeisha was halftime because she cooled off a little bit," Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. "If we could have just kept playing, she would have broken a lot of records."

Edwards, who finished 14-of-23 from the field for the game, was 10-of-12 in the first half, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

"I didn't see this coming," Edwards said after the game. "I felt good out there, and everything just seemed to go in."

Kiandra Bowers added a double-double for Lamar, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four steals. Baileigh O'Dell had 10 points and a career-high eight assists as the Lady Cardinals swept the season series and improved to 3-0 all-time against Incarnate Word..

"Kiandra's double-double is great, but what's more impressive is that she took four charges," Harmony said.

Lamar forced 31 Incarnate Word turnovers, as the Lady Cardinals outscored UIW 38-15 in points off of turnovers. Lamar also added 40 points in the paint.

"Baileigh was able to get the ball inside, and we scored on our layups, which is something we don't always do," Harmony said. "Kiandra did a good job of finishing."

Yvonne Maosa led Incarnate Word (5-23, 2-14) with 24 points and nine rebounds. Haley Frias had 11 points, while Jazmine Holman finished with 10 points.

"This was a good bounce-back win for us," Harmony said. "We learned some lessons from our loss at McNeese State."

The Lady Cardinals close the regular season by hosting Sam Houston State at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. A win ensures the Lady Cardinals of sole possession of second place anda bye into the tournament semifinals. Meanwhile, Sam Houston State (6-20, 5-11) is tied with Houston Baptist for the eighth, and final, berth in the Southland Conference Tournament.

"Sam Houston is going to come in here as a desperate team. They're fighting for their postseason life," Harmony said. "We have to be ready for them. We want that bye into the semifinals."

For ticket information, call (409) 880-1715, or visit www.LamarCardinals.com.

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