It wasn't easy, but Lamar University women's basketball coachLarry Tidwell earned his 100th career victory Wednesday night as the Lady Cardinals held on for a 58-56 win over visiting Northwestern State in a Southland Conference game.
Lamar (10-9 overall, 2-3 Southland) almost squandered a 19-point second-half lead, but held on to make Tidwell just second coach in Lady Cardinals' history to reach the 100-win plateau. Pat Park holds the Lamar record with 109 victories.
"To get 100 wins is nice," said Tidwell, who moved his career record to 100-49. "It shows that we have been fortunate to recruit good players, excellent, hard-working coaches and great support from our administrators and community."
Lamar held a 30-15 lead at halftime, and boosted that advantage to 34-15 just 48 seconds into the second half on a steal and layup by Kalis Loyd. But Northwestern State (5-14, 1-5) fought back and got to within one point in the final 30 seconds as Jordi James' jumper cut the Lamar lead to 55-54.
Brateicka Mock hit one free throw and Loyd added two free throws with 18 seconds left to boost the Lamar lead to 58-54. Jasmine Upchurch made it 58-56 a few seconds later. Loyd missed two free throws with 7.5 seconds left that would have sealed the win, but Tiandra Williams' 3-point attempt fell short with 0.1 seconds left to give Lamar the win.
Lamar shot just 25 percent (6-of-24) in the second half, while Northwestern State was 18-of-37 (48.6 percent) after the break. Northwestern State also outrebound Lamar 27-15 in the second half to throw a scare into the Lady Cardinals.
"They were way more aggressive than we were, especially in the second half," said Loyd, who finished with a team-high 14 points. "They seemed to want it more than we did."
Brateicka Mock and Monique Whittaker added 11 points apiece for Lamar, while guard Gia Ayers led Lamar in rebounding with a career-high 10 boards.
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