BEAUMONT, Texas – Addesha Collins scored a career-high 29 points,  but the Lamar University Cardinals suffered a heartbreaking 79-77 loss to visiting Stephen F. Austin in a Southland Conference women's basketball game Thursday night.
 
The Cardinals (10-15 overall, 6-8 Southland) squandered a 16-point lead late in the third quarter as they missed a golden opportunity to strengthen their grip on a berth in next month's Southland Conference Tournament.
 
"We played a great 30 minutes, but we let it get away in the fourth quarter," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "We showed that we're a young team tonight. We made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter."
 
The Cardinals committed 20 turnovers on the night, 10 in the fateful fourth quarter as SFA (14-10, 8-5) outscored LU 29-13 to run its winning streak to seven games. SFA outscored LU 18-0 in points off of turnovers in the final 10 minutes.
 
"We didn't take care of the ball, and they turned our mistakes into easy points," Harmony said. "SFA got the momentum and they rode it."
 
Collins also had a game-high eight rebounds for LU, but she was in no mood to enjoy her performance.
 
"This one hurts," she said. "We let this one get away. We have four games left in the season, and we have to work even harder to make sure we go to the tournament."
 
Kiara Desamours had 16 points for LU. Baileigh O'Dell had nine points, Chastadie Barrs had seven points, seven steals and five assists, while DeJa Roberts came off the bench to equal her career high with seven points. Barrs now has 102 steals, as she became the fourth player in program history to record at least 100 steals in a season.
 
SFA had four players score in double figures, led by Brentney Branch, who came off the bench to score 19 points, 14 of those in the final quarter.
 
The Cardinals won't have much time to recover, as they travel to McNeese State at 1 p.m. Saturday to open a home-and-home series with the Cowgirls (16-10, 8-6). McNeese State visits LU at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the final home game of the season for the Cardinals.
 
"We know McNeese State is a good team, and they're tough to beat on their home floor," Harmony said. "We just have to come out with the same intensity and effort we had tonight, but we have to do it for 40 minutes.
 
Both McNeese State games will be aired live on KLVI AM 560). Wednesday's home game against McNeese State will be shown online on ESPN3. For ticket information, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE.