BEAUMONT, Texas – After previously scheduled to open conference play at ACU, the Lamar Cardinals will instead open their SLC portion of the season at home when they welcome Nicholls to the Montagne Center on Wednesday evening. Tip off is slated for 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.

Junior Angel Hastings leads the Cardinals in scoring as she posts 10.4 points per game and brings in 1.8 rebounds a game. The preseason all-conference selection currently ranks third in the Southland in free-throw percentage as she hits 83.3 percent from the line. The Cardinals are coming off a 77-49 loss to the 19^th-ranked Texas Longhorns back on December 29.

The Colonels are led by reigning SLC Player of the Week sophomore Chelsea Cain who boasts a 15.9 points per game average and knocks down 43 percent of her shots. She also helps lead the Nicholls defense where she averages 7.0 rebounds a game. Nicholls is coming off a 89-82 win over Sam Houston State to open their conference play.

The Cardinals will turn their attention to Houston Baptist next on Saturday, January 9 as they travel to Houston to take on the Huskies with tip off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Wednesday evening's game will be streamed on ESPN+ with LeMont Williams at play-by-play and Dan Gresham at the color analyst spot.

LAST TIME WE PLAYED

• The Cardinals went on the road to finish out their non-conference portion of their schedule but fell to the No. 19 Texas Longhorns by a score of 77-49 at the Frank Erwin Center.
• The Cardinals fell early in the first going into the media timeout down, 14-5, against the Longhorns. Junior Angel Hastings got the first Cardinal points of the contest at the 7:48 mark of the first to pull LU to within three. Charli Collier was relied upon by Texas in the first after putting up 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting with two rebounds. Lamar shot 45 percent in the first compared to the Longhorns, who shot a staggering 56 percent.
• The Cardinals tried to cut the lead in the fourth as Dean tacked on to her points adding four fourth-quarter points. The Longhorns had an answer for each Lamar basket in the fourth. The Cards shot 41 percent for the contest while Texas knocked down 53 percent of their shots as the Longhorns took the victory over the Cardinals, 77-49, from Austin.
• Freshman Sabria Dean tallied a season-high 16 points on 6-for-8 from the field and added on two rebounds and an assist to her stat line. Senior Jadyn Pimentel was the other Cardinal to score in double figures with 10 points on the evening.

SERIES HISTORY

• This marks the 43rd meeting between the programs with the Cardinals holding the series advantage over the Colonels, 25-17.
• The last time out, Nicholls captured a 62-60 nail-biter over the Cardinals in the Montagne during the 2019-20 season.