BEAUMONT, Texas - Using a hot start and a dominant defensive performance that gave up fewer than 10 points in two quarters, Lamar University's women's basketball team took care of business against Nicholls at the Neches Arena. With the final score of 70-44, the Cardinals are 16-5 overall and 10-1 in Southland Conference play.
After seeing her seven-game double-double streak end on Thursday, Akasha Davis led Big Red with 17 points and 16 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season and eighth in the last nine games. Jacei Denley recorded a season-high 16 points including four threes from downtown. Sabria Dean (11 points) and R'Mani Taylor (10 points) combined for 21 points and each dished out four assists.
LU shot 45.1% (19-of-27) from the field while holding NICH to 28.6%. Big Red controlled the paint with a 30-11 points advantage and took command of the rebounds 37-27. In addition, 21 of LU's points came off of 17 Colonel turnovers.
The Cardinals opened the game on a 14-0 run by hitting on their first five shots and two free throws. Denley connected on two threes to get herself started, but over the rest of the quarter, LU missed nine of their last 10 shots. While the Colonels racked up nine of the last 11 points to close the margin to 16-9, Big Red's defense held them down to 28.6% from the field in the first 10 minutes.
The Colonels' momentum carried into the second quarter as they opened on an 11-6 run to cut the deficit to 22-20. However, the Cardinals wasted no time getting momentum back as behind nine points from Davis in the quarter, LU went on a 13-3 run to lead 35-23 at the half including 11 straight points. Hitting eight-of-13 from the field, Big Red posted a game-high 61.5% from the field in the quarter.
The second half started nearly like the first as LU opened up on a 10-0 run which included five straight points from Dean, which came from a NICH intentional foul and a three-point play. This led to a dominant third quarter for the Cardinals, who outscored the Colonels 24-9. Denley connected on a pair of threes while Malay McQueen added five points in the quarter as LU led 59-32 through three quarters.
While LU scored 11 points in the final quarter, nine of them were from free throws as they made just one field goal. In fact, the two teams would combine for 17 free throws as the Colonels won the quarter 12-11. When all was said and done, Big Red emerged out of there with a six-game winning streak in tact.
On Thursday night, first place of the Southland Conference standings is up for grabs as LU travels to Hammond, La., for a showdown against Southeastern Louisiana. The tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
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