HOUSTON – Addesha Collins matched her career high with 26 points Wednesday night, but the Lamar University Cardinals saw their two-game winning streak snapped with a 77-66 loss at Houston Baptist in a Southland Conference women's basketball game.
 
The Cardinals (10-14 overall, 6-7 Southland) struggled from the outset, missing their first eight shots. For the game, LU shot 32.8 percent from the field (20-of-61) and was just 1-of-6 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range.
 
"We weren't focused tonight," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "We missed 12 layups and 10 free throws. You can't come on the road and expect to win when you only have one or two players focused."
 
Harmony was pleased with the effort of Lejha Smith, who came off the bench to score a season-high seven points and equal her season best with six rebounds.
 
With the exception of Addesha and Lejha, nobody was ready to play tonight," Harmony said. "We didn't do what we needed to do."
 
Collins, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week, was 7-of-16 from the field and a perfect 12-for-12 from the foul line. She entered the game 29^th in the nation in free throws made, and certainly didn't hurt her ranking Wednesday.
 
The Huskies (11-11, 6-6) got a double-double from Anna Strickland, who finished with game highs of 27 points and 16 rebounds. The Huskies, who outrebounded LU 41-36, had a 44-26 advantage in points in the paint. HBU was 35-of-62 from the field (56.5 percent), and was 4-of-12 from 3-point range (33.3 percent).
 
"We didn't stop their penetration," Harmony said. "They got too many easy baskets."
 
Baileigh O'Dell and Chastadie Barrs had 11 points apiece for LU, while Kiara Desamours added nine points and a career-high 14 rebounds for LU.
 
The Cardinals were 25-of-35 (7.4 percent) from the foul line, but take away Collins' 12-for-12 effort, and the rest of the Cards were 13-of-23.
 
"We missed too many free throws," Harmony said. "Again, that comes down to lack of focus. We had a good week of practice, but we didn't carry it over into the game."
 
The Cardinals are idle until 7 p.m. Feb. 18, when they host Stephen F. Austin. Harmony hopes the time off will do the team some good.
 
"I know they're tired, and hopefully this will recharge us a bit for the final five conference games," Harmony said. "We just have to come back ready to play."