Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — The Lamar Cardinals attempt to make it a perfect 10-for-10 at home this season as they host the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders in a Southland Conference women’s basketball game at 5:15 p.m. today in the Montagne Center.

It’s the first of a two-game home stand for LU, which hosts Northwestern State at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Cardinals (12-5, 5-2 Southland) have outscored their opponents by an average of 31.9 points per game over the first nine home contests of the season. LU’s 75-60 win over Northern Arizona on Nov. 23 was the closest final margin of those nine games.

The Cardinals come off a disappointing 78-67 loss at Nicholls State on Saturday, a setback that dropped LU into a three-way tie for third place in the conference.

“We just didn’t play well,” LU coach Robin Harmony said. “We’ve watched the video and we’ll learn from our mistakes.”

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-11, 3-4) has won three of its last four after snapping a seven-game losing streak. The Islanders were 63-37 winners at Sam Houston State on Saturday.

Brittany Mbamalu leads the Islanders in scoring with an average of 10.4 points per game. Camesha Davis averages 8.7 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game.

The Cardinals remain among the national leaders in several defensive categories, leading the nation in steals per game (14.3), turnover margin (9.94) and turnovers forced (25.59 per game). LU is third in offensive rebounding with an average of 19.12 per game.

Individually, LU sophomore guard Chastadie Barrs leads the nation with an average of 4.35 steals per game. Barrs, who has had at least one steal in all 48 games in her career, is fourth on LU’s all-time steals chart with 197.

Senior post player Kiandra Bowers leads the nation in offensive rebounding, pulling down an average of 5.89 offensive boards per game. For the season, Bowers is averaging 13.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Her field-goal percentage of 60.9 percent ranks 12th in the nation.

Sophomore guard Moe Kinard continues to lead the Cardinals in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game.

Today’s game marks the 1,000th career game for Islanders coach Royce Chadwick. Chadwick, who started his coaching career at Panhandle State in the 1984-85 season, is 615-384 overall and 54-82 with the Islanders.

LU leads the overall series 11-9. In the only meeting last season, the Cardinals rallied for a 75-70 win, outscoring A&M-Corpus Christi 33-16 in the fourth quarter.

Fans attending today’s doubleheader will receive a free phone stand from Wells Fargo while supplies last. In addition, there will be a postgame autograph session with the juniors on this season’s LU women’s basketball team.

Today’s contest is the first game of the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. Fans can make a pledge based on every three-pointer the team makes through the end of the season, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. To make a pledge, log on to  https://pledgeit.org/cvc-lamar-women. To follow the national 3-Point Challenge competition, visit www.3PointChallenge.org.