Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — Moe Kinard scored 24 points to lead four Lamar Cardinals in double figures, while Kiandra Bowers registered her 30th career double-double as LU rolled to its 23rd straight home win, an 83-58 decision over the McNeese State Cowgirls in a Southland Conference women’s basketball game Saturday.

The Cardinals (13-6 overall, 8-1 Southland) won their fifth straight game. DeA’ngela Mathis had 18 points for LU, Chastadie Barrs finished with 15 points, nine assists and eight steals, while Bowers added 11 points and 11 rebounds. With the win, LU remained a half-game behind conference-leading Stephen F. Austin (16-3, 8-0), which was a 75-53 winner at Sam Houston State on Saturday.

LU led 21-16 after the first quarter before opening the second quarter on a 7-0 run over the first 2:02 of the period, forcing the Cowgirls to call timeout. McNeese (8-11, 4-4) rallied to tie the game at 30 before LU close the quarter with another 7-0 run capped by a Kinard three-pointer.

“We knew McNeese was going to make a run, but our kids answered. They didn’t give up, they didn’t pout,” Harmony said. “They continued to play hard.”

“It’s really hard to stop us,” Harmony said. “We have Chas, who can drive the ball to the rack at any time. DeA’ngela can hit off the bounce or hit the three. Moe can do the same. We can feed Kiandra in the post, and if we do miss any of those outside shots, clean up on Aisle 5 with those 800 rebounds Kiandra has.”

Bowers boosted her career rebound total to 811, while pushing her career points to 1,109, one shy of Dominique Edwards for 10th place on LU’s all-time list. Meanwhile, Barrs, who leads the nation in steals, pushed her season total to 127, 15 shy of her LU and Southland Conference record of 142 set last season.

Barrs, the two-time Southland Conference defensive player of the year, has at least one steal in all 80 games of her career.

McNeese committed 29 turnovers, compared to just 13 for LU. As a result, the Cardinals had a 37-11 advantage in points off turnovers. LU shot 29 of 77 (37.7 percent) from the field, while McNeese was 24 of 61 (39.3 percent). LU took advantage of a physical McNeese team that was whistled for 24 fouls. LU was 20 of 28 (71.4 percent) from the line, while McNeese was 6 of 13 (46.2 percent).

 Mercedes Rogers came off the bench to notch a double-double for McNeese, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmyn Carswell added 10 points for the Cowgirls.

The 23 straight home wins extends a program record.

“These guys have pride,” Harmony said of her team. “They want to play well in front of their fans. They want them to continue to come back out. We want to grow our fan bases, and the best way to do that is to win. The fans are the sixth man for us. They make a big difference.”

The Cardinals go for their 24th straight home win at 7 p.m. Wednesday, in the second of four straight home games for LU as they host Abilene Christian.

TICKETS

For tickets for LU home games, please call 409-880-1715, or visit www.LamarCardinals.com. The Montagne Center ticket office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. It reopens one hour prior to tipoff on weeknights and weekends. LU students receive free admission to home games with their Cardinal One card, while Junior Cardinal Club members are admitted for free when they present their membership badge.

PROMOTIONS

Wednesday will feature a student-organization challenge with prizes given to the organizations showing the most spirit during the game. A postgame autograph session will feature the four juniors on this season’s LU squad.