KATY, Texas – The Lamar University women's basketball program fell in the quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday, March 12^th to Central Arkansas, 69-55, at the Leonard Merrell Center.
 
The Cardinals got shots up early and often in the first quarter, but it was UCA that jumped out to an early lead. The first came out to be a battle between the Sugar Bears and Cardinals. Both teams went on a scoring drought over five minutes before a big three by junior Anyssia Gibbs gave Lamar the 10-9 lead with just a minute left in the first frame. Central Arkansas was able to connect on a two pointer that gave them the lead, 11-10, going into the second period. UCA controlled the boards in the first, outrebounding LU 11-10.
 
The second quarter saw Lamar turn up the burners has junior Angel Hastings hit crucial shots to give the Cards a 18-13 advantage going into the second period media. Coming out of the timeout, Hastings continued her hot shooting with another three to extend the Big Red lead at the 6:11 mark. Coming down the stretch, the Sugar Bears used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 25 a piece going into the half time break.
 
In the first 20 minutes of play, Central Arkansas shot 47.8 percent from the field while Lamar shot just 25 percent. Free-throws is what made the difference in the first half as the Big Red shot 88.9 percent from the line while UCA only hit 50 percent.
 
The third quarter became a back-and-forth affair up until the 6:22 mark when Carley Hudspeth hit two huge three over the course of 2 minutes, which also gave the Sugar Bears a 6-0 run, to push the lead to 37-31. The Cardinals drove down the court and freshman Sabria Dean was fouled on the shot and she went to the line. The Cardinals continued to fight but were down one, 44-43, going into the final frame.
 
The fourth proved to be another back-and-forth affair, but the Sugar Bears outshot the Cardinals 66.7 percent to 31.3 percent. UCA used a dominant offensive performance to extend their lead going into the fourth quarter media. The Cardinals were outrebounded in the contest 36-28 and assisted on just seven shots as a team. The Sugar Bears kept the Cards scoreless for the final 2:36 of the contest as Central Arkansas defeated Lamar, 69-55, in the SLC Quarterfinals.
 
Senior Jadyn Pimentel led the Cardinals with 15 points and one steal. Redshirt junior Micaela Wilson tagged on six points, nine rebounds and three blocks in the loss.
 
The loss to the Sugar Bears ends the 2020-21 season for the Cardinals. Lamar finished the season 10-14 overall and 9-6 in conference play. Three LU student-athletes were honored with postseason awards as senior Jadyn Pimentel earned SLC Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive team honors, freshman Sabria Dean earned SLC Freshman of the Year honors and redshirt junior Micaela Wilson earned First Team All-Conference honors.