BEAUMONT, Texas – Freshman Ashlan Miles scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Lamar University Cardinals to their eighth straight win, a convincing 73-42 victory over the New Orleans Privateers in a Southland Conference women's basketball game Thursday night.
 
The Cardinals (9-3 overall, 2-0 Southland) equaled the second-longest win streak in program history; the fourth time LU has won eight in a row, and the first time since the 2010-11 season. The school record is 14 games, set in the 1990-91 campaign.
 
The Cardinals got this win with an impressive second-half defensive effort, outscoring the Privateers (6-7, 1-2) 31-13 in the second half, including 21-2 in the fourth quarter after leading by just three, 32-29, at halftime. The two fourth-quarter points are the lowest one-quarter output by an LU opponent since women's basketball went to the four-quarter format last season.
 
"We hang our hat on defense, and we did a great job of it in the second half," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "We forced them into 18 turnovers in the second half, and 30 for the game. We also did a better job of controlling the ball in the second half. We had 15 turnovers for the game, but only five in the second half."
 
Miles had 11 points in the first half to help LU take a lead into the locker room, as no other Cardinal had more than five points.
 
"Ashlan really stepped up for us," Harmony said. "We struggled a bit in the first half, but she really came through."
 
The Cardinals finished with four players in double figures. Moe Kinard had 16 points, while Kiara Desamours and Kiandra Bowers added 10 points apiece. Bowers also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and 12^th of her career.
 
Chastadie Barrs had five points, nine assists and three steals, as she has at least one steal in all 43 games of her career. With her three steals, Barrs moved into sixth place on LU's all-time steals list with 180. Next on the list is Uirannah Jackson, who is fifth with 184 steals.
 
LU outscored UNO 26-8 in points off turnovers.
 
Randi Brown, the Southland Conference's leading scorer, led the Privateers with 15 points. Brown, who was averaging 21.4 points per game coming into the contest, was 5-of-19 from the field. As a team, the Privateers shot 27.1 percent (16-of-59), the lowest percentage by an LU opponent this season. UNO was just 4-of-25 (16 percent) in the second half. Shania Woods added 11 points for UNO.

The Privateers garnered their only points of the fourth quarter when Kayla Mundy drained a jumper with 5:17 remaining in the period to cut the LU lead to 61-42. The Cardinals closed out the game on a 12-0 run as the Privateers missed their final seven shots while committing four turnovers down the stretch.
 
"New Orleans is a much better team than they were in the past," Harmony said. "They ae going to be a tough team in this conference."
 
The Cardinals go for their ninth straight win when they host Southeastern Louisiana at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Montagne Center. The Lady Lions (3-11, 1-2) were 87-71 winners at Houston Baptist on Thursday.
 
"We're off to a good start in conference," Miles said. "We just have to keep it going."
 
Saturday's game is the opening game of a hoops doubleheader, with the LU men facing Southeastern Louisiana at 4:30 p.m. Saturday is Daddy-Daughter Day, with two general admission tickets available for just $12. In addition, the LU sophomore class will sign autographs after the game.
 
For tickets, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE.