by BEAUMONT, Texas – Dominique Edwards collected her Southland Conference-leading 13th double of the season as the Lamar Lady Cardinals clinched second place in the league with a 92-73 win over visiting Sam Houston State on Thursday.
Edwards, one of three Lamar seniors playing their final regular-season game in the Montagne Center, finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds to make Senior Day a success. With the win, the Lady Cardinals (17-12 overall, 14-4 Southland) earned a bye into the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals. Lamar will play at 3:30 p.m. March 14 against an opponent that has yet to be determined at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
“We wanted to be the No. 1 seed, but we will take the second seed,” Edwards said. “This is the last opportunity the seniors have to go to the NCAA Tourney, That’s something we really want to do.”
A pair of Lamar newcomers helped make Senior Day a success for the Lady Cardinals. Junior transfer Addesha Collins netted a career-high 24 points, while freshman Baileigh O’Dell had 18 points and six assists. Junior guard JaMeisha Edwards added 12 points in the win.
“I was I could contribute to the win on Senior Day,” said Collins, who was 14-of-15 from the foul line, tying the fourth-highest single-game total in program history.
As a team, Lamar went 33-of-40 from the charity stripe, the third-highest number of successful free throws in Lady Cardinals’ annals.
We were very concerned about this game because Sam Houston State is fighting to get into the tournament,” Lamar coach Robin Harmony said. “We wanted to send our seniors away with a win. We found a way to get it done.”
Lamar led 39-29 at halftime before the Bearkats (6-21, 5-12) cut the lead to 42-36 with 17:49 remaining in the second half. The Lady cards then went on a 9-1 run to take control of the game for good.
Senior Caroline Adesulu finished with seven points for Lamar, while senior Shauna Long (Standing Rock Sioux) had five points.
“I’m just really thankful for the opportunity over these past four years,” an emotional Long said after the game. “I have made some great friendships in my time here.”
The Southland Conference regular season ends Saturday, but the Lady Cards have a bye that day as well as for the first two days of the conference tournament that gets under way on March 12.
“Getting a bye into the semifinals is good for us,” Harmony said. “With the style we play, it would be tough to play three games in three days.
Last season, Lamar was the tournament’s top seed, only to get upset by Northwestern State in the semifinals. Instead of going to the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Cardinals went to the WNIT.
“We feel we have some unfinished business,” Dominique Edwards said. “That was definitely disappointing last season.”
With more than a week before their next game, the Lady Cardinals will have plenty of time to get prepared for the postseason.
“We have to come to practice and work with a purpose,” Harmony said. “These guys have to get greedy and want it. We can’t worry about the officials or anything else. We just have to go out and control our own destiny.”
The conference championship game is set for 12:05 p.m. March 15 at the Merrell Center, with the winner getting an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. All of Lamar’s postseason games will be carried live on KLVI (AM 560) and simulcast on www.LamarCardinals.com. The semifinals will be shown live on ESPN3, with the championship game televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
