BEAUMONT, Texas — For thirty minutes, Lamar University would go toe-to-toe with Stephen F. Austin in their first ever home Western Athletic Conference game. But the fourth quarter would see the Lady Jacks surge to outscore the Cardinals by 10. This dropped LU to 2-3 in the conference with a 65-53 loss.
Sabria Dean would lead LU with 14 points on five-of-eight shooting including four threes from downtown. Akasha Davis also posted in double-figures with 10 points while Malay McQueen (nine points, five assists.) and Kayla Mitchell (eight points) combined for 17 points. The Cardinals finished the night shooting 36.5% from the field.
The first quarter was a struggle for both teams who finished shooting below 40% from the field. LU did get off to an early 8-4 lead with Dean and McQueen knocking down three’s before the Lady Jacks answered with a 6-2 run of their own. SFA seized a two-point lead only for Dean to knock down a three for a 13-12 edge after one
After an exchange of points early in the second quarter, SFA saw their largest lead of the half at 19-15 only for Angel Hastings and McQueen to follow with three-pointers for the lead. Tied at 21, the Cardinals would add two more three’s as Mitchell and McQueen combined for six points to put the Cards up 27-21. LU shot 38.36% from the field in the quarter, which would be the highest percentage of any quarter they shot for the game.
When the second half began, the Lady Jacks would chop their way back in front on an 11-3 run for a 32-30 lead. But sparked by a few three-point plays from Davis and Hastings, LU regained the lead at 38-34. This would wind up being the final time the Cards would be ahead as the Lady Jacks would answer with eight of the final 10 points to lead 42-40 after three.
The fourth quarter was decisive as SFA put together an 8-3 run to bring them up 50-43. LU would get to within five on a Davis basket, but they couldn’t stop SFA’s defense, which sparked a 15-8 run to put the game away.
LU will look to bounce back this Thursday night as they host Dixie State at 7:00 PM this Thursday night.