SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Dominating the second quarter, Lamar University's women's basketball team held on to win against the University of Idaho (4-2) on Friday. The Cards (2-4) outscored the Vandals 17-7 in the second and won the game 47-44.

Kayla Mitchell led the way with 11 points in just 21 minutes, shooting 50 percent from the floor. Amber Vidal had nine points and three boards, Angel Hastings and Shedricka Pierson each had seven points, and Rikiah Cowart had six points and six rebounds.

Idaho took charge from the opening tip and quickly compiled an 8-0 lead before Big Red could fight back, and at the end of the first quarter led 12-7 over Lamar with both teams shooting under 30 percent. LU and Idaho combined for an 0-of-10 mark from three in the opening 10 minutes.

The first team to sink a shot from beyond the arc was LU, and that change in momentum buoyed a big run for the Cards. After a rebound by Mitchell on a missed Idaho three, Hastings sprinted down the court and fired away, nailing the fast break trey with 9:23 left in the half. The Vandals tried to answer with a three on the other end but missed for the ninth consecutive time, and another fast break gave LU its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 8:45 to go. Cowart put LU ahead with a transition layup.  Hastings stretched that lead to three on a jumper in the paint, and LU continued to streak for the next two minutes, leading by seven, 19-12, with 6:09 remaining. The Cards had strung together a 12-0 run in about five minutes. Turnovers and missed shots by Idaho led to easy buckets for Lamar, and at the half the Cards led by five, 24-19. Idaho shot just 13 percent from the floor in the second quarter.

LU stretched its lead to double digits twice in the third quarter, leading 34-23 off a jumper by Cowart with 5:06 left in the period, and getting back up to a 10-point lead off a Pierson teardrop, 36-26, with 3:56 to go. Idaho continued to hang around though, and at the end of three LU led by seven, 36-29.

A renewed defensive effort and 50 percent shooting from three helped pull Idaho back into the game in the final 10 minutes. Vidal gave LU a nine-point lead, 38-29, with 9:34 to go on a jumper following a Vandal turnover, but that would be the biggest lead of the quarter for Big Red. An 11-3 run by Idaho shrunk Lamar's margin to just one point, 41-40, with a little over a minute to go, and had Vidal not hit a second chance jumper off a Cardinal miss with less than 50 seconds left, Idaho could have taken the lead. But Vidal snagged the rebound and hit her shot, and LU had a three-point margin to work with, 43-40. That jumper and three free throws from Mitchell down the stretch sealed the narrow 47-44 win for Lamar over a very strong Vandal team.

The Cardinals return to action very quickly, facing the 13th Annual Shareslo Holiday Classic hosts, Cal Poly, at 4:30 p.m. (CST) on Saturday. After that Lamar will return home to host LeTourneau on Monday, Dec. 2.

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