BEAUMONT, Texas — The Lamar University Cardinals overcame a slow start in their final non-conference game against NAIA opponent Texas A&M-Texarkana, but were able to turn the momentum in their direction and secured a 60-51 win over the Eagles. As conference season approaches, the Cardinals sit at 6-5 overall.
Akasha Davis led all scorers with 25 points on the night, which was within two points of her career high on 11-of-17 shooting. She also grabbed 11 rebounds, which marked her seventh career double-double. NJ Weems contributed 12 points for LU making 50% from the field. In total, LU shot 42.6% from the field while they held the Eagles to 40.4%.
The Eagles grabbed the early 5-0 lead before the Cardinals answered with two straight buckets from Davis and Taliah Hill to bring the score to 5-4. Five points later, AMT led 10-4 only for Hill, Davis, and R’Mani Taylor to knot the score with six straight points. Trading baskets for a few minutes, the Cardinals finally grabbed the lead as Emma Imevbore came off the bench for five straight points to give LU a 19-14 edge after one.
AMT started the second quarter with a 9-2 surge to grab a 23-21 lead. The rest of the quarter would go to Big Red, who stormed to a 13-2 run of their own. McQueen and Weems, who tallied five points in the stretch, opened a run of nine straight points with threes from downtown for 30-23 lead. Despite going six-of-14 from the field, the Cardinals went into the break up 34-25.
As the third quarter began, Davis suddenly went into takeover mode scoring LU’s first 12 points of the quarter. Big Red was able to stretch that lead to as much as 15 points on a few occasions while their defense held the Eagles to only nine points. Weems would be the only other Cardinal scorer in the third quarter with a three-point play as the Cardinals led 49-37 going to the fourth.
Having trailed by 15 points in the third and scoring the final basket in the quarter, AMT created a momentum shift with seven unanswered points closing the gap to 49-44. But again, it was Davis and Weems who stepped up for the Cardinals to maintain the three possession lead, which became four possession after a Sabria Dean three-pointer. LU kept their double-digit edge until the final seconds as they walked off with a 60-51 victory.
Before 2023 begins, the Cardinals make their long-awaited Southland Conference return as they will open conference play with the Battle of the Border showdown against McNeese on New Year’s Day at 1:00 p.m. The game will take place in the Montagne Center.