BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals go for their 17^th straight home win when it hosts the Southwestern Assemblies of God Lady Lions in a non-conference women's basketball game at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Montagne Center.
 
Thursday's game is the opening contest of a hoops doubleheader. The LU men take on Jarvis Christian in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.
 
The Cardinals (1-1) come in off a 93-62 win over Louisiana College on Monday after falling at third-ranked Baylor in the season opener. In the win over Louisiana College, junior guard Chastadie Barrs was one rebound shy of becoming the first LU player in 27 seasons to record a quadruple-double, finishing with a triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists, 11 steals and nine rebounds.
 
Barrs, who led the nation in steals last season, has at least one steal in all 63 games of her career. Her 11 steals vs. Louisiana College were a career high.
 
Barrs is off to a great start for the Cardinals, leading the team in scoring (15.0 points per game), assists (16) and steals (12). She is second on the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game.
 
Sophomore post Briana Laidler is second on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per outing. Laidler had a career-high 16 points in the win over Louisiana College, going 7-of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.
 
A number of LU players are nearing career milestones and school records. Barrs has 277 career steals, just five behind Kalis Loyd's 282 for second on the all-time list, and 56 shy of the school record of 333 held by Ramona Jones. Barrs is fifth on LU's all-time assists chart with 333, 40 behind Loyd's 371 for fourth place.
 
Kiandra Bowers enters Thursday's game with 960 career points, needing 40 points to become the 14^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She is already 10^th on LU's all-time rebounding list with 650. Bowers' 182 steals are seventh on LU's all-time list. LaToya Carson is fifth with 186, while Uirannah Jackson is sixth with 184.
 
The Lady Lions (3-2) consider Thursday's game as an exhibition. SAGU comes in off an 89-51 win at Dallas Christian on Monday. Senior guard Lexi Rich leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game. This is the first time that LU and Southwestern Assemblies of Good will face each other in women's basketball.
 
Following Thursday's game, the Cardinals will play four of their next five games away from the Montagne Center. LU is at Purdue at noon Saturday before hosting Howard Payne at 7 p.m. Tuesday. After that, the Cardinals face North Dakota and Northern Illinois at the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic, set for Nov. 24-25 in San Antonio, before heading to the West Coast for a game at Pacific on Nov. 30.
 
"The more games that we can get under our belt, the more we can fix our issues because we can watch it on film," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "You can tell them and tell them and tell them, but until they see it, they're not going to make that adjustment."
 
Fans attending Thursday's doubleheader will receive free Cardinal Basketball T-shirts courtesy of 5Point Credit Union while supplies last.
 
For season tickets and individual-game tickets, please call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE. The Montagne Center ticket office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. It reopens one hour prior to tipoff on weeknights and weekends. LU students receive free admission to home games with their Cardinal One card, while Junior Cardinal Club members are admitted for free when they present their membership badge.
 
All home games are broadcast on ESPN3.