NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Lamar University women's basketball team suffered a tough loss to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals struggled to get things going offensively and ended up losing 70-50.

"We started the game a little sluggish, but finally settled down in the second quarter," said LU head coach Aqua Franklin. "We cut it to six heading into halftime, but they came out in the second half and opened with another run and we just couldn't get stops. We weren't able to play Angel as much because she is under the weather, but at this time of year everyone is banged up you just have to fight through it."

After being down 10 at the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals were able to cut the lead down to just six at the half. Coming out of the locker room, Lamar couldn't get anything to fall. The Cardinals shot just 20-of-61 (.328) from the field, while SFA drained almost half their shots going 28-of-61 (.459) from the floor. Leading the way for the SFA was Stephanie Visscher. She scored 24 points, including seven three-pointers.

While it wasn't the best shooting performance by the Cards, they controlled the glass. The Cardinals pulled in 43 rebounds while their opponent only grabbed 34. Of the Cardinals' 43 rebounds, 19 of them were offensive.

A few bright spots for the Cardinals came from the performances by senior Amber Vidal and senior Briana Laidler. Vidal was the only Cardinal to score double figures on the day with 13 points, and she grabbed five rebounds for Big Red. Laidler was just one-point shy of a double-double. Laidler scored nine points and
dominated the glass with 10 rebounds.  

Up next, the Cardinals come back home for the last game of the season. They will host McNeese in the second round of the Battle of the Border. The Cardinals will look beat McNeese for the second time this season, after beating them 87-69 earlier in the year. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 2 P.M. from the Montagne Center on Saturday, March 7.

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