BEAUMONT, Texas - Hitting the hardwood again after 10 days off, Lamar University's women's basketball team heads into its Southland Conference opener this Wednesday rested and ready for another run for the conference crown. The Cardinals (4-5, 0-0 SLC) will begin their regular season title defense on the road at Southeastern Louisiana (3-5, 0-0 SLC).

Lamar at Southeastern Louisiana - Wednesday, December 18 at 7 p.m. - University Center (Hammond, La.)

Lamar holds a narrow 22-21 advantage in the all-time series against SLU, and is currently riding a three-game win streak against the Lady Lions. LU's last loss came in the 2015-16 season at SLU, a 73-66 showing on Jan. 14, 2016. Since the start of this decade LU is 11-4 against Southeastern.

This season SLU is 3-5 including a 2-0 mark at home and a 1-5 record away from Hammond. The Lady Lions opened the year with a close loss at Houston and another tough loss on the road at Southern Miss, then lost by 10 points at Louisiana-Lafayette and by 10 again at LSU. A 65-52 win at Louisiana-Monroe snapped the streak, and the Lady Lions won two more, against LSU-Alexandria and Jackson State, at home before dropping a 92-78 decision at Louisiana Tech.

Ayla Guzzardo is in her third season as the head coach of the Lady Lions, and holds a 20-46 overall record with a 11-25 mark against SLC opponents. The Hammond, La., native came home after playing for and coaching at the University of Akron.

The Lady Lions are averaging 64.5 points a game while allowing 66.5 points per contest to their opponents, and are being out-rebounded by about 3.5 boards a game. The team is shooting 40.0 percent from the floor including 33.1 percent from three, and SLU is hitting about 72.6 percent of their free throws.

Celica Sterling is the team's leading scorer, averaging about 14.6 ppg with 15 steals on the year and about three rebounds a contest. Jyar Francis has been a force off the bench the last six games, scoring about 12 points per game while playing just over 20 minutes on average. Aminat Jubril is the team's best rebounder at 5.5 boards a game, and Alexius Horne is the team's best passer with 26 dimes.

Last Time Out - Lamar vs. Denver - Sunday, December 8 at 2 p.m. - Lamar wins 71-59

Holding the 13th-best offense in the country to 22 points less than their scoring average, Lamar University's defense paved the way to a big 12 point victory over the University of Denver. The Cardinal women's basketball team took down the Pioneers 71-59 in the Montagne Center.
 
"What a game," said head coach Aqua Franklin. "What a win. I'm really excited about how hard our young ladies played. We got back to the basics defensively the last couple of days and clearly that showed as we forced 27 turnovers. That's how we have to play, that's what we want to look like, and it was fun."
 
Angel Hastings led all scorers with 22 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and an 8-of-9 mark from the free throw line. The sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, had four rebounds and a steal as well. Fellow Alamo City native Amber Vidal scored 19 points on a 6-for-14 mark from the floor including 3-for-5 from three and a perfect 4-for-4 stretch from the penalty stripe. Jadyn Pimentel had six points, two boards, eight assists, and four steals, and Briana Laidler had seven points and six boards.

Up Next

The Cardinals will play just one more game in 2019, at home against Northwestern State on December 21. The Cardinals will then take off for Christmas Break before returning home to host New Orleans on January 2.