BEAUMONT, Texas - Returning to the friendly confines of the Montagne Center, Lamar University's women's basketball team will host Howard Payne University on Monday morning for a Beaumont ISD Education Day.

Lamar vs. Howard Payne University - Monday, November 11 at 11 a.m. - Montagne Center

Howard Payne is an NCAA Division III school located in Brownwood, Texas, and is in its 44th season of competition. Originally the Yellow Jackets were a member of the Texas Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women along with Lamar in the 1970s, then HPU transitioned to the Lone Star Conference for about five years before dropping down to the NAIA and eventually moving back up to D III.

The Yellow Jackets played at Sam Houston State earlier this year in an exhibition game, losing to the Bearkats 91-49, and will still be in the exhibition portion of their schedule when they come to Lamar on Monday. Their official first game of the year comes on Nov. 15 at Texas Lutheran University.

In the 2018-19 season Howard Payne went 11-15 overall and 8-8 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets went 0-3 against Southland schools that season with a 98-43 loss to Abilene Christian, a 93-60 loss to Houston Baptist, and a 93-37 loss at Lamar.

Starting guard Chelsey Harris is HPU's lead scorer so far this year with an average of 13 points per game, and Bria Neal had 12 points off the bench against SHSU. Anastasia Willis had nine rebounds and five points, and six different Yellow Jackets recorded a steal.

Head coach Yannick Denson is very familiar with the Golden Triangle after winning a 2017 TAPPS state basketball championship with Legacy Christian, leading the program to a 34-2 record. He coached Alexis Morris to All-American status there. The 2018-19 season was his first with Howard Payne. Denson also has Cardinal connections as 2014 LU graduate and a four-year stint as a student manager with the women's basketball team.

The Last Time Out - At Oklahoma State University - OSU wins 74-53 over LU

Trailing by just one point after the first quarter, a tough shooting stretch in the second and third quarters was too much for Lamar University (0-1) to overcome Friday in its women's basketball season debut at Oklahoma State (2-0). The Cardinals fell to the Cowgirls, 74-53.

"Super proud of the effort and toughness that these ladies played with today," said head coach Aqua Franklin. "Oklahoma State is a very talented team that is well coached. Our ladies didn't use our short bench as an excuse; they played their guts out every possession. If we continue to play this hard and with this toughness we will win a lot of games."
 
Amber Vidal wowed in her official debut, scoring 26 points on 8-19 shooting including a 6-for-10 mark from the three point line. She was also perfect from the free throw line and had four rebounds. Angel Hastings added in another 13 points, four assists, and four rebounds, and Briana Laidler was three points short of a double-double with seven points and 13 boards.

Up Next - at North Carolina State - November 14 at 6 p.m. - Raleigh, N.C.

The Cardinals will hit the road for two tough non-conference challenges with games at North Carolina State on Nov. 14 and at Baylor on Nov. 21. After playing against the defending national champs, Lamar will return home to host Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. on Nov. 25 before closing out the month at the Shareslo Holiday Beach Classic in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Nov. 29-30.