ABILENE, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals go for their 11^th straight win when they open a three-game road swing by facing defending Southland Conference regular-season champion Abilene Christian at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
The Cardinals (11-3 overall, 4-0 Southland) are tied for first place with Stephen F. Austin. Abilene Christian (9-7, 3-1) was knocked out of its share of first place with a 70-61 home loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday.
 
LU coach Robin Harmony said her team's focus is on the game at hand, and not on the current winning streak, which is the second longest in program history.
 
"I don't think our kids even read about the winning streak," Harmony said after Thursday's 83-54 home win over UIW. "We are going to take it one game at a time."
 
The Cardinals shot a blistering 60 percent (33-of-55) from the field in Thursday's win, the best single-game shooting percentage by an LU squad dating back to the 2004-05 season. LU was even hotter from 3-point range, shooting 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from downtown. LU's Kiandra Bowers leads the Southland Conference in field goal percentage at 58.8 percent. Bowers is a blazing 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the field over the past two games.
 
Sophomore guard Moe Kinard leads the Cardinals in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. Kinard's 22.3 points per contest in Southland games is second in the conference. Kinard has averaged 26 points over the last two games. She's been no slouch from the field, draining 66.7 percent of her shots (20-of-30) over those two contests.
 
Bowers is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Bowers leads the Southland Conference in rebounding, pulling down 10.2 boards per game. She leads the nation in offensive rebounding at 6.13 per game.
 
LU continues to rank among the national elite in several categories. The Cardinals lead the nation in steals per game (14.3) and turnovers forced (25.43 per game).LU is second in turnover margin at plus 9.86 and fifth in offensive rebounds per game (18.86).
 
"We're getting better, but we're still not there yet," Harmony said. "We keep working hard every day and we're going to get where I know this team can be."
 
Abilene Christian, which saw its five-game winning streak end in the loss to SFA, is led by Sydney Shelstead, who averages team bests of 12.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Alexis Mason (12.5), Suzzy Dimba (11.9) and Lizzy Dimba (10.1) also average in double figures in scoring for the Wildcats. All four of ACU's top scorers are seniors.
 
Abilene Christian is in its fourth and final year of making the transition to Division I from Division II. The Wildcats are ineligible for the Southland Conference Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Wildcats participated in the postseason WNIT.
 
LU leads the overall series 4-1.  The teams split a pair of games last year, with the home team winning each time. LU's win was the only setback the Wildcats suffered in conference play last season.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on KLVI (AM 560). Following the game at Abilene Christian, LU is at Sam Houston State on Jan. 18 and Nicholls on Jan. 21. The Cardinals return home to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 5:15 p.m. Jan. 25.
 
For tickets for LU home games, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE.