BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's basketball team heads to the Pacific Northwest to face national powers Oregon State and Oregon this weekend as the Cardinals open the 48^th season of women's hoops at LU.
 
LU will be facing Oregon State and Oregon for the first time ever. The Cardinals are at Oregon State at 4 p.m. (Central) Friday and at Oregon at 4 p.m. Sunday. It will be a tough task for the Cardinals, who are facing two Pac-12 squads that made it to the postseason last year. Oregon State advanced to the NCAA Final Four before falling to eventual national champion UConn, while Oregon made it all the way to the semifinals of the WNIT.
 
"This will be a good trip for us," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "It will be a time for team bonding, and these games will be a measuring stick. We want to get to the postseason, and these are the types of teams you see in the postseason."
 
LU is led by Southland Conference award winners in guard Chastadie Barrs and forward Kiara Desamours. Barrs was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year last season after finishing second in the nation in steals. She is the first freshman (male or female) to be named the SLC Defensive Player of the Year. Barrs, who averaged 10.3 points per game last season with 121 assists and 123 steals, was named second-team preseason all-conference for the 2016-17 season.
 
Desamours, the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season, led the Cardinals on the boards in 2015-16.
 
The Cardinals also get senior post player Kiandra Bowers back this season. Bowers, who has seven career double-doubles, suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the season last year.
 
Leading the pack of eight newcomers this season are sophomore guard Moe Kinard, who sat out last season after transferring to LU from Houston, and junior guard DeA'ngela Mathis, a junior-college All-America at Florida State College at Jacksonville last season.
 
"We're still a young team," Harmony said. "We can't match the experience that these teams have. But playing teams of this caliber will definitely make us better. Facing teams from the big conferences will also help our RPI."
 
They will be thrown right into the fire in the season opener against Oregon State, which was ranked 17^th in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll and 25^th in the preseason Associated Press Poll.
 
The Beavers went 32-5 last season, including a 16-2 mark in the Pac-12 for their second consecutive Pac-12 title. Oregon State is led by senior guard Sidney Wiese, who averaged 12.8 points per game while dishing out 143 assists.
 
Oregon went 24-11 last season, including a 9-9 mark in the Pac-12. Sophomore guard Maite Cazorla, who averaged 11.7 points per game as a freshman, is the Ducks' leading returning scorer. Cazorla handed out a team-leading 143 assists in 2015-16.
 
The Cardinals return to Beaumont on Monday to gear up for their home opener against St. Thomas (Texas) at 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Montagne Center. For ticket information, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE.