BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals look to put the finishing touches on a perfect home season when they host the Nicholls Colonels in a Southland Conference women's basketball game at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Montagne Center.
 
The Cardinals (20-6 overall, 13-3 Southland) are 14-0 at home this season, outscoring their opponents by an average of 30.2 points per game. A win would give LU its first undefeated at home since 2009-10, when the Cardinals went 13-0 en route to winning the Southland Conference regular-season and tournament titles as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"Our motto has been to defend the nest, and we've done that this season," LU coach Robin Harmony said. "We have love playing at home in front of our fans."
 
LU enters the week 1½ games behind first-place Central Arkansas in the battle for the top seed in next month's conference tournament. LU would tie Central Arkansas by winning its last two games while the Sugar Bears drop their finale at Northwestern State on Saturday. The Cardinals, who have already earned a first-round bye in the tourney, would wrap up one of the top two seeds and an automatic spot in the tournament semifinals with a win Wednesday and a win at McNeese on Saturday in the regular-season finale.
 
Nicholls (9-18, 6-10) needs to win one of its final two games or have Houston Baptist drop one of its two remaining contests to lock up one of the final seeds in the tournament.
 
Wednesday's game will be a matchup of the top two teams in the nation when it comes to steals. The Cardinals lead the nation in steals at 14.4 per game, while the Colonels are second at 13.1 per contest.  LU tops the country in turnover margin at plus 9.50, while Nicholls is fifth at plus 7.37. The Cardinals force opponents into an average of 24.73 turnovers per game to pace the nation, while Nicholls is eighth at 21.78 forced turnovers per contest.
 
LU's Chastadie Barrs continues to lead the nation in steals, averaging 4.69 per game. The sophomore guard has at least one steal in all 57 games in her career. Her 122 steals this season are one shy of her the 123 steals she had last season and 10 behind Ramona Jones' single-season school record of 132 steals set in 1990-91. Barrs also leads the Southland Conference with an average of 6.5 assists per game, good for 14^th in the nation.
 
Kiandra Bowers, who had her 16^th double-double for the season in Saturday's 74-22 win over visiting Houston Baptist, is ninth in the nation in double-doubles. Bowers leads the nation in offensive rebounding, averaging 5.89 per game.
 
Moe Kinard leads LU in scoring at 15.5 points per game. Bowers averages 14.9 points and a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game.
 
The Colonels are led by Cassidy Barrios, who averages team-high figures of 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Nicholls snapped a five-game losing streak with a 92-57 victory over visiting Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.
 
LU leads the overall series 22-15, but dropped a 78-67 decision to Nicholls on the Colonels' home floor on Jan. 21.
 
SENIOR NIGHT: The Cardinals will honor their two seniors, Bowers and Teleshia Riley, during pregame ceremonies.
 
UP NEXT: LU is at McNeese at 1 p.m. Saturday to end the regular season.
 
LOOK AND LISTEN: Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on KLVI (AM 560) and streamed on ESPN3. Saturday's game at McNeese will be on KLVI, which will also carry all LU postseason games.
 
PROMOTIONS: As a thank you to the fans for their support all season long, LU is offering general admission tickets for just $1 to Wednesday's game. In addition, fans can receive a free phone wallet, courtesy of AT&T while supplies last. There will be a student organization challenge with cash prizes awarded to the student organizations that show the most spirit. The challenge is sponsored by Universal Coin and Bullion.
 
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TICKETS: The LU ticket office is selling individual-game tickets and all-season ticket booklets for the Southland Conference Tournament, set for March 8-12 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. Tickets for LU's first game are $15 each. The tournament ticket booklet, which includes the four sessions for the men's tournament and the four sessions for the women's tourney, is $60. Contact the LU ticket office at 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE for first-round tickets, or CLICK HERE for the ticket booklet. LU will also have a ticket window at the Merrell Center prior to each LU game in the tourney.