After being out for a week because of Winter Storm Enzo’s snow, the Lamar women’s basketball team came out hot and ready, defeating East Texas A&M, 83-65, Jan. 25, in the Neches Federal Credit Union at the Montagne Center.
The Lady Cards got off to a slow start in the first quarter with ETAMU going on a 10-6 run. Lamar quickly responded, putting together an 8-0 run of their own, to finish the quarter up 24-16.
ETAMU trimmed the deficit to four points and outscored Lamar in the second quarter by one point but could not get any closer for the rest of the game. A three pointer by ETAMU ended the first half with Lamar up 39-32.
“ I thought we took the ball and we started out great,” Coach Aqua Franklin said. “But then East Texas came and they punched back, and we didn’t respond very well to that. One of the things we wanted to do is limit their three-point shots in the first half. We didn’t do a great job with that. We allowed them to get some second-chance points.”
Lamar’s offense came out strong in the third quarter with LU guard N.J. Weems scoring eight and guard Sabria Dean adding seven in the period. The Lady Cards finished the quarter up 65-53.
The Lady Cardinals sealed the win with a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter. Dean played a key role in the last minutes of the game, scoring eight points alongside LU guard T’Aaliyah Miner who added six.
Franklin said the team’s second half energy was key to victory.
“It was our energy and effort,” she said. “We needed to do a better job of just walking in on our opponent knowing our personnel and play as a team. I thought we played a little bit of individual basketball on the defensive end. (We needed to) just do a better job of locking in and playing as a team.”
Four of LU’s starters finished the game with double-figures, with Dean scoring a game-high 23 points. She also pulled down six rebounds, making her the 12th Cardinal to reach both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her collegiate career.
Lamar forward Akasha Davis ended the game with 16 points and 16 rebounds for a double-double. LU guard Jacei Denley finished with 17 points and Weems with 12.
“ Offensively, we’re always inside out,” Franklin said. “But they did a great job of taking Akasha away and leaving the four players open. One thing we didn’t want to do was turn the ball over, which we only had eight in the game, but we got the ball on the rim and Akasha had 16 rebounds. Six of them were offensive, and when we got up on the board, most of the time she got the rebound.”
The Lady Cardinals are now 13-4 overall and 8-0 in Southland Conference play where they sit at second place just one game out of first.
Lamar return to action, Jan. 30, to play Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La. The game is set to start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
