by BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar Lady Cardinals celebrated the 30th anniversary of the first women’s basketball game at the Montagne in grand style Thursday, rolling to an 83-60 win over visiting Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action.
Lamar (7-9 overall, 4-1 Southland) had five players score in double figures, led by Baileigh O’Dell with 18 points. Dominique Edwards had her second consecutive double-double, and sixth of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“We’re going to be tough to beat when we have five players in double figures,” Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. “We were really worried about Southeastern Louisiana. We know they’re a good team. We came out and gave a tremendous effort.”
The Lady Cardinals never trailed in this one. Lamar scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. With the win, Lamar improved to 227-143 all-time at the Montagne Center dating back to that first game, a 63-60 win over Nicholls on Jan. 14, 1985.
O’Dell had 13 points in the first half to lead Lamar, as the Cardinals took a 37-28 lead into intermission. The Lady Lions (6-9, 2-2) never got closer than 10 points in the second half.
The Lady Cardinals outscored Southeastern Louisiana 30-12 in points off turnovers, capitalizing on 23 giveaways by the Lady Lions.
“Our defense is our big thing. We know defense wins games,” O’Dell said. “It’s something we take pride in.”
Lamar also dominated the paint, outscoring Southeastern Louisiana 46-22 in that area. The Lady Cardinals also held a 39-34 rebounding edge.
“Our post play is getting where we need it to be,” Harmony said. “That was huge for us tonight.”
Addesha Collins had points for Lamar, JaMeisha Edwards had 11 points and Kiandra Bowers added 10 points. Shauna Long (Standing Rock Sioux)just missed out on joining the double-digit club, finishing with nine points.
The Lady Cardinals shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the field, while holding Southeastern Louisiana to 38.2 percent (21-of-55).
“We’re getting better, but we haven’t peaked yet,” Harmony said. “We still have our best basketball ahead of us. You want to peak in February and March.”
Peaches Anderson led Southeastern Louisiana with 18 points, while Jameika Hoskins had 10 points in the loss.
The Lady Cardinals don’t have much time to savor the win, however. Lamar heads to Northwestern State for a showdown with the conference-leading Lady Demons (5-0 SLC) at 1 p.m. Saturday. That game will be broadcast live on www.LamarCardinals.com.
Lamar’s next home game is 7 p.m. Jan. 22 against Stephen F. Austin.
