NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals play their biggest game so far this season when they take on the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks in a Southland Conference women's basketball game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
The Cardinals (17-5 overall, 10-2 Southland) enter Saturday tied with Central Arkansas for first place in the conference. The Cardinals and Sugar Bears are just a half-game ahead of Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian, who are each 9-2 in the conference. A win would not only keep the Cardinals at the top of the standings, it would give LU its 12th straight berth into the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
LU brings a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA (18-4, 9-2) has been especially tough on its home floor, compiling a 9-1 record to date in its home venue. LU is 4-5 on the road this season, including a 3-2 mark in SLC play.
 
Moe Kinard continues to lead the Cardinals in scoring at 16.4 points per game. Meanwhile, teammate Kiandra Bowers continues to produce double-doubles. Bowers notched her 13^th double-double of the season in Thursday's 84-51 win over visiting Sam Houston State with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
LU remains the national leader in turnover forced (24.86 per game), steals (14.4 per game) and turnover margin (plus 9.55). Sophomore guard Chastadie Barrs has at least one steal in all 53 games in her career. Barrs leads the nation with an average of 4.64 per game. She is also among the national leaders in assists, ranking 13^th at 6.7 per game.
 
SFA is led offensively by Taylor Ross, who averages 18.6 points and 5.1 assists per game. Brentney Branch averages 15.6 points per game, while Stevi Parker averages 10.8 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Stephen F, Austin holds a 53-14 lead in the all-time series that got started back in the 1969-70 season. Last season, the teams split a pair of games, with the road team winning each time. LU's win was a 64-60 decision at SFA on Jan. 21 behind a career-high 25 points from Baileigh O'Dell. Saturday's game is the only regular-season meeting between the teams this season.
 
MAGIC NUMBER: LU's magic number for clinching a berth into next month's Southland Conference Tournament is 1. One LU win or one HBU loss gets the Cardinals into the tournament for the 12^th straight year.
 
ON THE AIR: Saturday's game will be broadcast live on KLVI (AM 560) and streamed on ESPN3.
 
FOLLOW THE LEADERS: Central Arkansas is at Nicholls at 1 p.m. Saturday, while Abilene Christian hosts Northwestern State at 2 p.m.
 
UP NEXT: LU has two games remaining on its three-game road swing. The Cardinals are at Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. Wednesday and at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Feb. 18. LU's next home game is 2 p.m. Feb. 25 against Houston Baptist.
 
TICKETS: For tickets for all LU home games, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE. The Montagne Center ticket office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. It opens hour before game time on weekends.