BEAUMONT, Texas –
Kamryn Wilson scored a career-high 23 points as Lamar University went wire-to-wire with the lead defeating UIW, 78-62, Saturday evening at the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center.
The Grand Prairie sophomore converted 8-of-13 from the field, including four three-pointers. Wilson's previous career high was 18 points, which she achieved against McNeese this season.
T'Aaliyah Miner made all seven of her field goal attempts and netted 16 points, while
R'Mani Taylor (nine points) and
Shaila Forman (eight points) both grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Lamar (8-6, 5-2 Southland) shot a season-high 55.3 percent from the field and converted seven from behind the three-point line. Big Red took command of the paint, 38-16, and scored 18 of the game's 24 fastbreak points.
LU began the game by scoring eight unanswered points, including six from Miner. Wilson connected on a pair of threes and tallied eight points in the first quarter as Big Red made 46.7 percent of its shots. On the other side of the ball, UIW only managed to go 2-of-11 on the floor, which led to a 21-10 Lamar lead.
Both teams shot over 50 percent in the second quarter. While UIW (53.8 percent) ignited a small 5-2 run to trim the deficit to 23-15, Big Red (58.3 percent) responded with an 11-4 run on 4-of-7 shooting in that stretch.
Jacei Denley came off the bench and made all three of her shots to rack up seven points, including a three-pointer with time winding down in the first half to put Lamar up 39-27.
Big Red got hot in the third quarter shooting 63.8 percent (7-of-11) from the field and scoring 23 points. Once again, Miner opened things with six points while Wilson added nine, to have 19 by the end of the quarter. Big Red's lead grew to 62-43 entering the final quarter.
UIW presented an early obstacle at the start of the fourth when its press defense forced six LU turnovers and got within a 13-point game at 68-55 near the midway point. That was as close as the game would get before Miner recorded a steal and a score on the next possession while Taylor added five points to close out the game. Lamar's defense held UIW to 21.6 percent (8-of-37) from the field over the second half.
Lamar will hit the road Thursday to take on New Orleans at the Lakefront Arena. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
