SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Celebrating Thanksgiving in the traditional way for basketball teams, Lamar University's women's hoops will participate in the 13th Annual Shareslo Holiday Classic this weekend. The Cardinals will face the University of Idaho on Friday and host team California Polytechnic State University.

Lamar vs. Idaho - Friday, November 29 at 4:30 p.m. CT - Mott Gym (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Lamar and Idaho will meet for just the second time in program history on Friday with LU leading the all-time series 1-0 after winning the previous meeting 68-56 on Nov. 28, 2009. LU Hall of Honor member Kalis Loyd had 13 points, and Jenna Plumley led the Cards with 20 points at the World Vision Classic in Waco, Texas.

Idaho is 3-1 this year after losing at Oklahoma State and winning against Colorado State, at the University of San Francisco, and at Seattle University. The Vandals are averaging 66.0 points, 43.8 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 3.8 steals, 3.0 blocks, and 13.5 turnovers a game while allowing 65.0 points, 40.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 6.5 steals, and 4.0 blocks a game. Idaho isn't the best shooting team with a 36.4 percentage from the floor and a 29.7 percent mark beyond the arc, but they limit opponents to just 23.6 percent from three. They average about 15 trips to the line a game while allowing roughly the same amount of appearances to their opponents.

Jon Newlee is in his 12th season as the head coach of the Vandals and holds a 194-163 record in that time. He came to Idaho after six seasons as the head coach at Idaho State, where he was 93-82. His career coaching record is 287-245.

Gina Marxen is the go-to option for Idaho in every regard. She leads the team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and is third in rebounds (6.3 rpg), and she leads the team in assists as well with 15 so far this year. Beyonce Bea is the rebounding leader with 8.3 boards a game, and she'll go for about 13 points per contest. The Klinker sisters, Lizzy and Natalie, will also start for the Vandals, as will Hailey Christopher.

Lamar at Cal Poly - Saturday, November 30 at 4:30 p.m. CT - Mott Gym (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Televised on the Big West Network, Lamar and Cal Poly will meet for the first time on Saturday. The tournament hosts are 1-4 this year after loses to Fresno State, at Pepperdine, at Denver, and at Arizona State. The Mustangs' lone win this season came at home against Sacramento State.

Faith Mimnaugh has been at Cal Poly 23 seasons now and enters this weekend needing just one win to reach 300 wins with the Mustangs.

The Mustangs have averaged about 54.8 points a game while surrendering about 69.4 points per contest to their opponents, and are rebounding at 37.0 rpg while allowing 37.8 rpg to opposing teams. Cal Poly is shooting around 40.6 percent overall but just 23.9 percent from three, and opponents are hitting 37.3 percent of their shots while shooting at a 30.4 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Sierra Campisano leads the team in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg), and blocks (0.8 bpg), and her four steals are third on the team. Abbey Ellis has been a freshman phenom with 15.0 points a game and 4.0 rebounds per contest while dishing out 17 assists. The rest of the lineup is a bit less consistent with six players having appeared in the other three starting positions on the court.

The Last Time Out - Lamar vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - Monday, November 25

In a game that featured a battle from the opening tip, Lamar University's women's basketball team couldn't quite make up an early deficit against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Monday. The Cardinals cut an 11-point lead at the start of the fourth down to just three points but couldn't close the gap. ULL escaped the Montagne Center with a 74-63 decision over Lamar.

Up Next

December opens up with LeTourneau (Dec. 2) and Denver (Dec. 8) at home, and the Cardinals will begin Southland Conference play a bit earlier this season when they travel to Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 18. There will be just one more game in the 2019 portion of the season, at home against Northwestern State on Dec. 21.