BEAUMONT, Texas. - There was only one thing on the mind of the Lamar University women's basketball team Thursday and that was to celebrate their Southland Conference regular season title in front of their home fans. Before they could do that though, they first had to focus their attention on getting consecutive win number 13, which they did so against Houston Christian by the final of 69-47.
LU's 13 straight win is currently the longest since the 2017-18 season in which LU won 14 straight games. The Cardinals also finished 11-1 on their home floor throughout the season.
Akasha Davis led the Cardinals with her 17th double-double. Scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, Davis recorded 12 points in the first half. The rest of the squad distributed their points evenly with Jacei Denley having nine while Malay McQueen, R'Mani Taylor, T'aliyah Miner, and Teni Kuyinu scoring eight apiece. LU converted 40.6% from the field and dominated on every phase of the game including points off turnovers (24-8), points in the paint (36-20), and bench points (37-26). They also secured 38 rebounds and converted 12-of-15 from the line.
Despite giving up the first three-pointer of the game, LU responded with 15 straight points. Davis led with six in the run while Taylor contributed five in the quarter. For the 20th time this season, LU held an opponent to single digits as they conceded nine HCU points while leading 17-9 after one.
Big Red broke the game open in the second quarter scoring 25 points on 55.5% shooting from the field. Davis started the quarter with six straight points that helped LU go on a 15-4 run to stretch their lead to 32-15. Other Cardinals would have mini stretches in takeover mode including Denley, who scored two straight jumpers while McQueen connected on a pair of threes. By the end of the first half, LU had seen their lead up to 42-21.
LU's momentum carried onward into the second half with their lead ballooning to 51-25. Once again, LU's defense held HCU to single digits adding to their season total up to 21 single-digit quarters. The Cardinals carried their 26-point lead to 55-29 despite shooting a team-worse 23.53% from the field.
Any thoughts of celebrating LU's title had to be put on hold for a bit as the Huskies had new life by creeping closer to within 18 points with six-and-a-half minutes to play to open the quarter. That was until two role players in Kuyinu and Miner stepped up. The two of them would score all 14 points in the final quarter as Kuyinu made all three of her shots including two from downtown while Miner tallied six more. That was the last hurrah for HCU's chances to spoil the party as LU sealed their victory and began to celebrate an incredible season to date.
But the Cardinals have bigger aspirations as they will look to add the conference tournament title for this season. As the number one seed, they will wait until Wednesday at 11:00 am to play their first game. All the tournament games will be in Lake Charles, La., at the Legacy Center on the campus of McNeese University.
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