Lamar sports information

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Lamar Cardinals showed they’re not afraid of facing the top teams in the nation, as they opened their season with an 88-56 loss to 17th-ranked Oregon State, a team that advanced to the Final Four last season.

“It was a good first showing for us,” LU coach Robin Harmony said after the game. “Oregon State is a quality team. They’re a big team. But I saw a lot of good things from us today. Sure, we made mistakes, but we can watch the film and correct them.”

The Beavers, who went 32-5 last season, held a definite height advantage on the Cardinals, and used it to dominate the boards 47-28. LU did force the Beavers into 21 turnovers, while the Cardinals had just 13 turnovers.

The Cardinals struggled from the field, shooting just 30.9 percent (21-of-68). LU was 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range.

“We missed too many easy shots,” Harmony said. “We got good looks, but we didn’t put them in. I know we can do a better job than that.”

Moe Kinard led LU with 12 points. Kiandra Bowers finished one point shy of a double-double, ending the game with nine points, 10 rebounds while matching a career-high with five steals.

DeA’ngela Mathis also had nine points for the Cardinals in her LU debut.

“I thought DeA’ngela looked like the junior college All-American that she is,” Harmony said. “I was impressed with her and with Ashlan Miles, who got some quality minutes.”

Miles, a freshman guard in her first collegiate game, had five points and two assists, with no turnovers.

Junior Baileigh O’Dell hit a pair of three-pointers to give her 106 for her career, moving her into tie for seventh place with Gia Ayers on the all-time list.

Katie McWilliams led Oregon State with 29 points, highlighted by a 7-of-8 effort from beyond the arc. Sydney Wiese had 17 points, Marie Gulich had 12 points, while Breanna Brown had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beavers shot 60.3 percent (35-of-58) from the field for the game, including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from 3-point range.

“We’re not going to see a team like that in our conference. They’re big and they are fundamentally strong,” Harmony said. “We’re going to build off of this and get better. I think our fans are going to like what they see.”

The Cardinals remain on the West Coast to face Oregon at 4 p.m. Sunday. LU returns home to face St. Thomas in the home opener at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Montagne Center.