Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT — The Lamar University women’s basketball team looks to put back-to-back wins together for the first time this season when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference game at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Montagne Center.
Thursday’s game will be shown on ESPN3 and broadcast on KLVI (AM 560). Thursday’s contest is being promoted as a “Whiteout” game, with LU fans encouraged to wear white shirts to the game.
The Cardinals (5-8 overall, 1-1 Southland) come in off an impressive 79-52 conference win over New Orleans at the Montagne Center on Monday night. The 27-point advantage is tied for the largest margin of victory in a conference game this season.
“We played the way I know we are capable of playing,” LU coach Robin Harmony said. “We need to play like that on a consistent basis.”
Senior guard Addesha Collins has stepped up her play as of late, scoring in double digits in five straight games. Collins, who had a career-high 26 points in a Jan. 2 loss at Nicholls in the conference opener, added 19 points in the win over New Orleans. Her 22.5 points per game in conference play leads the SLC. Overall, Collins is second on the Cardinals in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per contest.
Senior guard JaMeisha Edwards, who had 18 points against New Orleans, enters Thursday’s game with 995 career points, just five shy of becoming the 13th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Edwards is averaging 15.8 points per game this season, third in the Southland Conference.
“We’re going to put everything on the shoulders of seniors,” Harmony said. “This is their season. They are going to be counted upon heavily for their leadership.”
The Islanders (3-9, 0-1) were the last team to open Southland Conference play, dropping a 66-55 home decision to Central Arkansas on Tuesday. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has lost seven straight games. The Islanders’ last win was a 49-46 victory over UT-Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 1. The Islanders are 3-6 at home, but 0-3 away from Corpus Christi.
Senior guard Shay Weaver leads the Islanders in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Brittany Mbamalu averages 10.9 points per outing.
LU leads the overall series 10-9. Last season, the Islanders were 56-51 winners over LU at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. The Islanders last won at Lamar back on March 4, 2009, when they claimed a 71-55 decision.
Following Thursday’s game, Lamar takes to the road for a pair of Southland Conference games. The Cardinals are at Central Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. Monday and at Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Jan. 14.
“That’s a long bus trip that will be even longer if we don’t get a win on Thursday,” Harmony said. “We have to play with the same determination and focus we had against New Orleans.”
For ticket information for all LU home games, please call 409-880-1715, or visit www.LamarCardinals.com.