MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Lamar University Cardinals hung with the Kansas State Wildcats for the final three quarters Sunday afternoon, but couldn't overcome a slow start in a 68-43 loss in a non-conference women's basketball game.
 
LU (1-3), which trailed 23-5 after the opening quarter, stayed with the much-taller Wildcats (3-0) for the final 30 minutes. The Cardinals received a tremendous effort from senior post player Kiandra Bowers, who recorded the eighth double-double of her career with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Bowers also equaled her career high with four blocked shots.
 
"Kiandra had a tremendous game," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "She had great energy today. We need more players to have that energy during the game."
 
Kansas State used some hot shooting in the first quarter to build a 23-5 lead after the opening 10 minutes. The Wildcats shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) in the first period, including 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from 3-point range. The Cardinals weren't nearly as hot, going 2-of-9 from the field, including 0-of-3 from downtown. Kansas State outrebounded LU 9-5 in the first period. Bowers accounted for all of LU's points and rebounds in the opening stanza.
 
"We need to have better starts," Harmony said. "We stayed with them after that, but we can't afford to fall behind that much to a good team. We missed too many chip shots in the early part of the game."
 
The Cardinals looked much better in the second quarter, staying with the Wildcats for most of the second period. LU closed the quarter on a 7-1 run to trail 43-21 at halftime. Moe Kinard had seven points in the period for LU.
 
The Cardinals were only outscored 25-22 after intermission, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed by LU's cold shooting. The Cards shot just 21.1 percent (8-of-38) after the break. For the game, LU shot 24.6 percent (17-of-69) from the field, including 19 percent (4-of-21) from 3-point range.
 
"Our players have to go into the gym on their own time and work on their shooting," Harmony said. "We need to do a better job of knocking down our open looks."
 
Moe Kinard led LU in scoring with 13 points. DeA'ngela Mathis had eight points and four assists. Chastadie Barrs finished with six points and five steals, as she has now had at least one steal in all 35 games of her career.
 
Breanna Lewis had a double-double for Kansas State, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Kindred Wesemann had 12 points, while Kayla Goth added 11 points for the Wildcats.
 
The Cardinals return home to host Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. Wednesday before wrapping up the week by traveling to Buffalo, N.Y., for a game at Canisius on Saturday.
 
"We play teams like Kansas State from the big conferences to get better," Harmony said. "We know we won't see teams like this the rest of the year. We have to learn from these games and use those lessons."
 
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