The Lamar women’s basketball team celebrates during the Southland Conference regular season trophy presentation, in the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center, Mar. 7. UP photo by Brian Quijada.
The Lamar women’s basketball team celebrated winning the Southland Conference regular season championship after beating Houston Christian University, 69-47, March 7, in the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center.
The Lady Cards have now won 13 games in a row, their longest winning streak since the 2017-18 season, where they won 14 games. LU finished the season 23-5 overall and 17-1 in the SLC.
Akasha Davis finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds, her 17th triple-double of the season. Davis averaged 15.4 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game throughout the season. Despite making the SLC tournament, Davis has her eyes set on a bigger prize.
“I feel good — we're not finished yet,” she said. “We got to keep going so we can get to the NCAA (tournament). We're repping the old Lamar. We're bringing back the winning streak that we used to have.”
Lamar ranks 24th in the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll, following votes from 31 DI coaches.
Head coach Aqua Franklin was recently ranked third in the Top Ten Black Head Coaches NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball by The Black Coaches Association. In her third season with Lamar, Coach Franklin has taken the team to the conference tournament every year.
Head coach Aqua Franklin gives a small speech to the fans during the Southland Conference regular season trophy presentation, in the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center, Mar. 7. UP photo by Brian Quijada.
Last season, the Lady Cardinals made it to the conference final, but fell short. Despite last season’s heartbreak, Franklin plans to run the same game plan as last time.
“Nothing's going to change.” she said. “We're going to be who we are. I think I said that last year. I just think we have a little bit more experience. So, going into this tournament with the number one seed, we have two games to get there versus three last year. We're going to do the same thing that we did. We're going to take it one game at a time do our part and play Lamar basketball.”
LU guard Sabria Dean averaged 13.8 points per game in her fourth season for Lamar. Throughout her four years, Dean has seen a shift in Cardinal culture.
“We've gone from making excuses, why we couldn't complete something, to changing our complete mindset — we have control over what we can do.” Dean said. “I think changing that mindset is what really got us here. We put our minds to it, we worked hard every single day, and we got a championship. So, we’re ready to keep going.”
LU guard Sabria Dean cuts the net during the Southland Conference regular season trophy presentation, in the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center, Mar. 7. UP photo by Brian Quijada.
Fueled by last season’s finals loss, the Lady Cards turn their sights on winning the SLC tournament championship.
Lamar received a bye in the first and second round, and will resume play in the SLC conference tournament semifinal, March 13, at The Legacy Center, in Lake Charles, La.
The Lady Cardinals lift the trophy and celebrate during the Southland Conference regular season trophy presentation, in the Neches Arena at the Montagne Center, Mar. 7. UP photo by Brian Quijada.