HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Chastadie Barrs broke her own Southland Conference record for steals in a season as the Lamar University Cardinals clinched a berth in next month's Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a convincing 68-44 win over the host Sam Houston State Bearkats on Saturday afternoon.
 
Barrs, the two-time Southland Conference defensive player of the year, had eight steals on Saturday, pushing her season total to 149 as she extended her conference record for career steals to 414. The junior guard has at least one steal in all 84 games of her career.
 
Barrs also had game highs of 19 points and seven assists as the Cardinals ran their winning streak to nine games, the second-longest streak in program history.
 
"Chas came to play today," LU coach Robin Harmony said of Barrs' performance. "She did it on offense and defense."
 
Kiandra Bowers had her team-leading ninth double-double of the season for the Cardinals, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Bowers moved into third place on LU's career rebounding chart with 867 boards.
 
"Bowers has to work so hard, she's the only one fighting to get rebounds," Harmony said. "We need some others to join the party."
 
The Cardinals got off to a slow start against the Bearkats (4-18, 1-12), leading just 13-8 after one quarter LU dominated the middle periods, outscoring the Bearkats 21-12 in the second quarter for a 34-20 lead at halftime; and 24-14 in the third quarter to lead 58-34 heading into the final period.
 
The Cardinals won despite shooting just 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the field, and 13 percent (3-of-23) from 3-point range.
 
The Cardinals, who lead the nation in steals and turnovers forced, added to those totals Saturday with 19 steals as the Bearkats committed 30 turnovers.  As a result, LU had a 29-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
 
"It's a win. It's a road win. It's always hard to win on the road, but we have to play better as a team," Harmony said. "Sam Houston State always plays well at home. We knew that coming in."
 
DeA'ngela Mathis scored 14 points for LU, while Ashlan Miles came off the bench to contribute seven points and four rebounds while matching her career high with four steals.
 
"Ashlan did a good job for us today," Harmony said. "We needed that from her."
 
Lydia Baxter led Sam Houston State with 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The Cardinals are at Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. Wednesday before returning to Beaumont to close out the home portion of the schedule by hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Feb. 17 and Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. Feb. 21. A win at UIW would equal LU's record 10-game winning streak set last season.
 
TICKETS: For tickets for LU home games, 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.