BEAUMONT, Texas - Sabria Dean went off for a season-high 29 points as for the third time this season and only the second game in a row, Lamar University's women's basketball team overcame a slow start and a double-digit deficit to pull off a victory. This time, they rallied from 11 points down to the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals to pull off a 70-53 win thanks to a strong, defensive fourth quarter. This being the first Southland Conference game of the season, LU is 1-0 in conference play to go along with a 7-4 record.
Facing off with the best defense in the conference, Dean put up 12-of-19 from the field and also snatched six rebounds and three assists. Akasha Davis tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 20 points, including 12-of-13 from the free throw line and 16 rebounds. Also reaching double-figures was NJ Weems, who netted five of her seven field goal attempts for 10 points while Brooklyn Mitchell dished out six assists and R'Mani Taylor stole the ball three times.
LU finished outshooting the other Cardinal team from the field (46.4%-32.1%) and from the charity stripe (94.1%-86.7%) although both teams had high free-throw percentages. The battle in the paint went in LU's favor at 30-28 while they capitalized with 22 points off turnovers.
From the opening tip, offense appeared to be at a minimum as both teams picked up six points in the first six minutes of the contest. UIW went on a 6-2 run only for LU to respond with six straight of their own as Dean finished the first 10 minutes with eight points. But UIW secured momentum with five unanswered to lead 17-14 after one.
Coming off the bench, NJ Weems opened her scoring with a pair of field goals to give LU an 18-17 lead. With the score tied at 20 after a layup by Dean, she had tallied half of the points for LU. The teams maintained a one-possession game until it was 28-25 when the team from San Antonio took command outscoring Beaumont's Cardinals 7-2 for a 35-27 lead.
Despite Dean opening the second half with a pair of free throws, UIW secured their first double-digit lead at 40-29. Despite Dean's three, the lead remained at double-figures at 44-34. That's when the Cardinals team, who had rallied back to win their previous showed the true grit and resilience as they fought back to cut the score down to 50-48. With Davis scoring six and Dean finishing the third with nine points, the stage was set for a strong fourth quarter.
Amazingly, LU started off the final 10 minutes with an 11-0 run between Davis and Dean, who would each score 10 points in the quarter. But the real surprise came from LU's defense, who flipped the script and showed off their strong defense by holding UIW to without a single field goal. All that UIW could muster were three free throw while all 12 of their attempts did not find the basket. By the end of the night, Big Red secured the 70-53 win heading into Saturday.
And on Saturday, LU will look to make it 2-0 to start the conference season as they will host Northwestern State at 3:00 p.m.
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