BEAUMONT, Texas - As the Southland Conference women's basketball season comes down the homestretch, Lamar University is sitting on top of the leaderboard by one game over Southeastern Louisiana. But LU's mindset is now focused on the one team who handed them their only conference loss in Texas A&M-Commerce this Thursday night at 6:30 PM. 

RED OR PINK, CARDINALS ARE HOT
The Cardinals are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak following their 68-63 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Saturday in their Breast Cancer game. This marks the longest winning streak in program history since the 2018-19 squad when that team won 12 games in a row. At 20-5, the 23-24 Cardinals matched the best record after 25 games, which was also held by the 2010-11 and 18-19 teams. It also is the second best 25-game stretch since the 1990-91 team, who started 23-2.  

IF DEFENSE WAS A SPORT, WE GOT AN 18-HOLE GOLF COURSE
The Cardinals held the Islanders to nine points in the second quarter in their win on Saturday. This was the 18th quarter for which LU held an opponent to single digits in a quarter. In 15 games, the Cardinals are 14-1 when achieving this feat. 

20 AGAIN?
For the second straight season, the Cardinals won their 20th game of the year. Ironically last season, the Cardinals 20th win came against the Islanders although that was in the conference tournament semifinals. All-time, the Cardinals have had 14 seasons of 20 or more wins. 

ROAD WARRIORS
While the Cardinals possess the best home record in the conference going 10-1, they also have the best road record at 9-3 (75. LU has won seven straight games on the road dating back to Jan. 11th against McNeese and are averaging 66.3 points per game in that stretch. Big Red has also won their last 12 conference games on the road with their last loss coming on Jan. 28th, 2023 against Northwestern State.

WE CRACKED THE TOP 25??? YAHOO
For the first time since 2019, LU is ranked in the top 25 of the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll. With 60 points, LU finds themselves ranked 25th in the nation of all mid-major teams. They are the only Texas school in the top 25 in this week's poll and are one of two SLC schools (SLU) to either be ranked or receiving votes.

LAST TIME VS THE LIONS
The Lions gave the Cardinals their first and only conference loss of the season winning 73-70. It also marked the only home loss for LU on the season to date. Davis scored 21 points and set a career-high of 18 rebounds. In five meetings, LU is 2-3 against Commerce. The Cardinals' only trip to Commerce was a 57-52 loss last season. Sabria Dean (18 points) and Akasha Davis (14 points) combined for 32 points in the game.

SINCE WE LAST MET
Commerce is currently in a four-way battle for the top five seeding in the tournament at 6-9 to go with their 11-14 record. Losers of their last three games, they fell 89-77 to Nicholls despite having four players in double-figures.   

GOOD BOYCE
While the Lions won by three in the last meeting between the two, the player with the biggest impact was Ahmya Boyce, who posted a season-high 27 points on seven-of-15 from the field. She also was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field. 

THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GREAT OFFENSE
The Lions average a conference-best 69.7 ppg. Four of their players are in double-figures with three of them in the top-10 in scoring. Mia Deck (14.7 ppg) is leading the conference while Jordyn Newsome (12.6 ppg) and Mary Delgado (12.6 ppg) are ninth and 10th respectively. On a streak of eight straight 60+ point games, Commerce have had five games where they didn't reach 60 points. 

UP NEXT FOR LU
LU's final road contest of the year will be in Natchitoches, La., as they will meet up with Northwestern State. The tip-off will be at 1:00 PM.

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