BEAUMONT, Texas — For the first time in over nine months, the Lamar university women's basketball was able to host basketball in the Montagne on Saturday afternoon as the bested the Texans of Tarleton State, 73-58, to capture the first win of the season.
"Excited to finally get to add one to the win column," said head coach Aqua Franklin. "Tarleton State is coming up from NCAA Division II, but if you watch their film, they have great players and great shooters there. I thought we came out today kind of flat, but we had a couple of players step up off the bench. As you see, we outscored them 45-20 off the bench. I am just excited to be on the win side, but we have to continue to get better as a unit."
The Cardinals (1-4) held the first quarter advantage throughout the frame. Junior Angel Hasting scored the first of many buckets on the night within 30 seconds of the contest tipping off. Sophomore Malay McQueen notched her second straight start and finished the first quarter with five points. The Big Red offense was lights out in the first as they shot a staggering 53.3 percent. The stout Cardinal defense limited the Texans to a 20 percent shooting percentage in the first.
Lamar continued his dominant offensive performance into the second quarter as they shot 46 percent in the second frame and held Tarleton State to just 25 percent. Emily Cunningham of the Texans got the scoring started off in the second, but redshirt junior Micaela Wilson knocked down a three, her third of the season, to respond to Cunningham. Less than a minute later, Wilson continued the Big Red scoring with a two-pointer that pushed the LU lead to 24-15 with 8:58 left. Lamar used a 9-4 run over the final minutes of the half to take a 37-25 lead at halftime.
The Texans came out of the half with a 7-4 run over two minutes as the third period was more even then the first two. The Cardinals did not get their first basket of the quarter until the 8:47 mark on a three-pointer from senior Jadyn Pimentel. The tempo slowed down in the third as Lamar shot 35 percent in the quarter compared to 45.5 percent from the Texans. The Cardinals used an 8-5 run from 7:18 to 3:46 to extend their lead to 48-37. Pimentel finished with six points in the quarter. Lamar captured the third quarter, 55-41, over the Texans.
The fourth quarter was all Big Red. The Cards popped off for 53.3 percent shooting and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Freshman Bebe Galloway got the scoring going for the Cards in the fourth at the 9:29 mark as LU extended their lead to 57-41. Lamar used a 9-7 run to close out the game over the Texans. The Cardinals captured the victory over Tarleton State, 73-58, for the first win of the season and at home.
The Cardinals had three double-digit scorers on the night with Hastings, Wilson and Pimentel all scoring 11 points in the contest. Junior Umaja Collins added nine points on the afternoon. Pimentel added six rebounds and three steals to her stat line, while Galloway add a season-high 10 rebounds in the contest.
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