SAN ANTONIO – Kiandra Bowers became the 14^th player in program history to score 1,000 points in a career to highlight the Lamar Cardinals' 90-80 victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies on the final day of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.
 
Bowers had 17 points on the day to push her career total to 1,009 points. She also had eight rebounds, giving her 695 for her career, moving her past Kara Audery for eighth place on LU's all-time list.
 
Moe Kinard and Chastadie Barrs had double-doubles for the Cardinals (4-3), who went 1-1 at the event, rebounding from Friday's loss to North Dakota. Kinard had 30 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Barrs had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Barrs had nine assists, falling one assist shy of her third double-double of the season. She also had one steal, giving her at least one steal in all 67 games of her career.
 
Lola Bracy added a career-high 11 points off the bench for the Cardinals, who shot 44.2 percent from the field (34-77) to make up for shooting just 40 percent (16-of-40) from the free-throw line.
 
"All of our kids played well," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "Moe played well, and Chas will always be our quarterback. Lola wasn't afraid as a freshman.  She penetrated, she defended well and she hit her open 3-pointers."
 
Northern Illinois, a member of the Mid-American Conference, fell to 4-2 on the season.
 
"We beat a team from a conference that is five steps above the Southland Conference. They beat a lot of top-100 teams" Harmony said. "It shows the talent we've been bragging about. Our kids stepped up. They defended well. We hit our shot. We knocked off what was probably the best team in the tournament. We did the job to them today."
 
LU dominated the inside against the Huskies, outrebounding Northern Illinois 51-39, while outscoring the Huskies 50-30 in the paint.
 
Meanwhile, the LU defense held the Huskies to 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the field. LU also won the turnover battle, forcing the Huskies into 17 turnovers while committing just eight. Kinard and Ashlan Miles had three steals apiece for the Cardinals.
 
LU led 18-11 after one quarter and 34-31 at halftime before outscoring Northern Illinois 35-23 in the third quarter to take a 69-54 lead into the final period. The Huskies got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
 
"We were living on the edge when Chastadie had four fouls," Harmony said. "We went as long as we could without her. She kept everybody calm when she got back in there."
 
Courtney Woods led Northern Illinois with 22 points. Mikayla Voigt had 19 points for the Huskies, while Ally May finished with 11.
 
The Cardinals wrap up their three-game road swing when they travel to Stockton, California, to meet the Pacific Tigers on Nov. 30. LU's next home game is 7 p.m. Dec. 4 vs. Schreiner.
 
"Pacific is a good team and heading to the West Coast is tough travel," Harmony said. "Hopefully, we can take the confidence we got in this game to Pacific and do the job."
 
TICKETS: 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.