COMMERCE, Texas - For the first time since the 2018-19 campaign, the Lamar University women's basketball team clinched a share of the Southland Conference regular season championship. All it took was for LU to defeat Texas A&M-Commerce 74-58 to stretch their winning streak to 11 games while Southeastern Louisiana, who entered the night trailing by one game, fell to UIW to allow Big Red a share of the conference title. With Big Red's two wins over SLU being the difference in the standings, the Cardinals will be the number one seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
Against AMC, the team that last defeated them, Big Red used a dominant first quarter to take care of business and they were led by Akasha Davis, who poured in 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for her 15th double-double on the season. Also with double-figures was Sabria Dean, who finished with 15 points. T'Aliyah Miner, Brooklyn Mitchell, R'Mani Taylor, and NJ Weems would each put up six points to combine for 24.
The Cardinals won the field goal (45%-35%) and free throw (82%-75%) battles while they crashed the boards to secure a 48-27 edge in rebounds. Converting 16 points off turnovers, LU used 21 bench points and 38 points in the paint as added fuel to their victory.
After conceding an opening three-ball, the Cardinals took command for the rest of the first quarter with a 20-6 run. Davis would pick up six points while Mitchell came off the bench to put in two jumpers for four. The basket was either half-empty or half-full as LU shot 50.0% from the field in the first quarter while holding the Lions to just two made buckets and nine points. This marked the 19th quarter in 16 games that an opponent of LU was held to under double-figures.
Trailing 20-9 at the start of the second quarter, the Lions closed within five points. But once again, Davis would carry the load as she tallied eight of LU's 19 points while another bench player in Miner pitched in four herself. Twice did the Lions reach within single digits only for LU to respond with a score. A three-pointer by Malay McQueen gave LU a 39-26 cushion at the half.
By the start of the second half, LU ran up to a 13-6 run, which pushed their lead to as large as 20. Five straight Lion points didn't bother LU, who improved their lead up to 58-40 by quarter's end. Dean would tally seven of her 13 second-half points in this quarter while LU converted 47.1% from the field.
A potential AMC comeback appeared to be brewing as with 6:48 to play, the Cardinal lead had shrunk barely to 12 points at 60-48. Again, it was Dean and Davis who regained control of the game for good by combining for 10 points. LU's lead was at 70-50 before AMC would get the score down to 74-58 by the buzzer. Moments after walking off the court with the victory, LU learned of SLU's loss to UIW, which earned them the share of the conference title.
In order for LU to win the conference title outright, they will need to defeat Northwestern State on Saturday or have SLU lose to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Cardinals and Demons will tip-off at 1:00 PM.
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