Coming off a Southland Conference tournament finals appearance, the Lamar women’s basketball team have started their season prepared to get over the hump and add the tournament title to their regular season championship.
The Lady Cardinals finished last season 24-7, the most wins since the 2018-2019 season. They placed first in the SLC standings with 17 wins and only one loss.
SLC announced their preseason poll with the Lady Cardinals projected to place first once again. Senior center Akasha Davis received preseason all-conference first team honors alongside being named as one of 25 players on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List. Graduate guard Sabria Dean also received preseason all-conference first team honors.
LU added three new players to their roster this season. Freshman guard Kamryn Wilson averaged 10.9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists and played in the state championship final. Junior guard K.J. Walker Guard is a transfer from Hill College, and Justice Ross, a graduate transfer from the University of New Orleans, is also joining the team.
LU head coach Aqua Franklin, who signed a four-year extension over the summer, said that the team bonds with each other on and off the court.
“Our team does a great job of really doing some bonding aside from what we do as a program,” Franklin said. “We have few that live off campus. They have game night, they go over, they watch the WNBA finals together, they do potlucks. It’s a really cool thing to see, as a coach, how well they get along off the floor and that just carries on the floor.”
The Lady Cardinals showcased their new team in an exhibition game against East Texas Baptist University, Oct. 26, winning 70-39 in the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center.
Davis finished the game with 19 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Jacei Denley scored 14 points and junior guard R’Mani Taylor ended with 10 points and four assists.
After missing out on the postseason NCAA tournament, the Lady Cardinals were invited to the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament where they lost to Washington State, 66-46.
Despite losing the last two SLC championship tournament finals, the Lady Cards are still hungry for that championship and NCAA tournament appearance.
“I’m excited for the end goal, for everything to come together and for us to actually reach what we want to do,” Davis said. “We won one piece of the puzzle. We need to win both this year to really feel like we’ve determined that we’re the champs and we should be.”
Coach Franklin said she hopes to get over the hump this year and finally win it all.
“Every year is to win it all, right?”she said. “That’s repeat Southland Conference champs, that’s to hopefully get over the hump. But, we, as a team, as a program, we try to just take it one game at a time. Whoever we’re up against, whoever we’re facing that day we want to win that day. We want to win that game.”
The Lady Cardinals officially start their season on Nov. 4, where they face off against Texas A&M-San Antonio in the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center.
“We’re going to play hard,” Franklin said. “(The players) want to go out and represent not only the names on the back of their jerseys, but they want to represent the name on the front of their jersey and this community.
“So, come out and support. We’re going to give you a good show. We’re going to fight hard.”