by BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar Lady Cardinals became the first team to clinch a berth in the Southland Conference women’s basketball tournament with a 79-62 win over visiting Houston Baptist on Thursday.
JaMeisha Edwards poured in a game-high 26 points for Lamar (14-10 overall, 11-2) as the Lady Cardinals ran their winning streak to six games and maintained a one-game lead over Stephen F. Austin at the top of the Southland standings.
The Lady Cardinals, who entered the game 10th in the nation in steals, averaging 11.6 per game, had 17 steals against HBU, as the Huskies (9-14, 3-9) committed 33 turnovers on the night.
“Our defense set the tone,” Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. “We were relentless on defense.”
The Lady Cardinals outscored HBU 34-10 in points off of turnovers. Caroline Adesulu tied a career high with six steals, while Edwards had five steals, one shy of her career best.
“We know our defense leads to our offense,” Edwards said. “We knew they were going to have trouble with our pressure.”
Kiandra Bowers registered he r second double-double of the season for Lamar, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Shauna Long (Standing Rock Sioux) came off the bench to add 12 points for Lamar. Baileigh O’Dell added nine points in the win.
Dominique Edwards fouled out with just three points, but moved into 10th place on Lamar’s all-time scoring list with 1,057 points, one ahead of Carolyn Ford.
“We were a little worried about this game, because HBU played well against SFA last week, and almost pulled out the win,” Harmony said. “We were ready to defend our nest, and we came out strong from the beginning.”
Erin McGarrachan led Houston Baptist with 19 points. Rachel Arthur had 18 points and Anna Strickland added 14 for the Huskies, who are 1-6 all-time against Lamar.
Lamar returns to action at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 when it travels to Stephen F. Austin in what is shaping up to be a showdown for first place in the conference. Stephen F. Austin held on for a 59-55 win at Lamar on Jan. 22.
“We got down by 21 points and then came back to take the lead against SFA, but we used up all our energy coming back, we couldn’t hold on,” Harmony said. “Our game at SFA is going to come down to who wants it more.”
Lamar’s next home game is 4 p.m. Feb. 21 against McNeese State.
“We still have four games after SFA, so every game is important,” Harmony said. “We want to win the regular-season championship, but we also want to be in the tournament championship game. Our three seniors (Adesulu, Long, Dominique Edwards) want to go to the NCAA Tournament.”
