BEAUMONT, Texas - In their first home action on the season, Lamar University's women's basketball team used precision offense and a suffocating defense to score a century in their 102-37 exhibition win over North American University. The Cardinals finished the game outshooting the Stallions with 52.2% made from the field.
Akasha Davis led a trio of Cardinals in double-figures as she tallied 19 points while newcomers Jacei Denley (15 points) and T'Aaliyah Miner (14 points) combined for 29 for the game. Every one of the Cardinals that played got to score and contribute to 102 points as they had 52 in the paint, 57 off the bench, and 48 off turnovers. They also finished outrebounding NAU 50-26.
The first quarter resulted in LU hitting 46.2% from the field despite starting off on a 16-3 run. This included the first 10 points of the game from an R'Mani Taylor three to an NJ Weems layup in the paint. NAU trimmed the lead to 19-6 to end the first quarter, but would go 2-10 from the field.
It was the second quarter where LU broke out further and never looked back scoring 35 points and holding NAU to six points to lead 54-12 at the half. A key component was LU's ability to draw fouls as they converted 11-of-14 free throw attempts. Miner finished the first half with 12 points on just 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
The Cardinals tallied 26 points in the third quarter with half of them coming from Denley on three-of-four from the field with two threes and five free throws. Big Red shot 53.3% from the field and would also make 8-of-10 from the line. The Stallions would break double-figures scoring 10 points. Yet, LU's lead had grown to 80-22.
Big Red's fourth quarter would be their highest field goal percentage shooting 64.3% on just 9-of-14 from the field. Brooklyn Mitchell (five) and Anaya Bernard (seven) scored a combined 12 points while Teni Kuyinu's lone three-pointer broke the century mark at the 1:55 mark. NAU was able to score 15 points to finish with 37 for the night. But throughout the contest, LU held them down to a 23.9% shooting night.
The regular season starts on Wednesday, Nov. 8th as the Cardinals tip-off at 6:00 p.m., against Texas College.
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