Lady Cards Fight Off Pesky Niagara for 64-54 Win

[KFDM COOP]

Lady Cards Fight Off Pesky Niagara for 64-54 Win

AMES, Iowa - The Lamar University women's basketball team used an 18-8 run in the

final six minutes of the game to pull out a 64-54 win over the Purple Eagles of

Niagara University in their second game of the Cyclone Challenge at Hilton Coliseum

on the campus of Iowa State University.

With the win, Lamar improves to 8-3 on the year while Niagara falls to 1-12 on the

year with the loss.

After holding a lead for the majority of the game, the Lady Cardinals fell into an

offensive drought midway though the second half, allowing the Purple Eagles to grab

their first lead since a 5-0 start to the game. Niagara took their first lead of the

second half with 10:57 to play on a jumper by Kayleigh Scannell, then extending

their lead to three points on a pair of Liz Flooks free throws, giving them a 43-40

lead with 9:46 to play.

The Lady Cardinals however did not allow Niagara to build on their lead, responding

quickly with a pair of free throws and a three pointer by Nikki Williams to reclaim

the lead. After the Purple Eagles tied the game at 45-45 with a Jennifer McNamee

jumper, they took their final lead of the game on a free throw by Kristina Walton

for a one point advantage.

The Lady Cards responded on the next possession with a Nikki Williams jumper and

extended their lead to three points on a layup by Brittney Williams. Lamar prevented

any chance at a Niagara comeback, as they sealed the game with clutch free throw

shooting over the final 3:49 of the game.

Down the stretch the Lady Cardinals sank 13 of their 15 free throw attempts, as

Niagara attempted to prevent Lamar from closing out the contest. A lay up by Agnija

Reke with 1:49 to play was the only field goal LU attempted in the final four

minutes of the game, as their defense allowed the Purple Eagles to score just eight

points during that span.

In the first half the Lady Cardinals opened up as much as a 13 point lead, but a

15-5 run by Niagara closed the gap to just three points at halftime. After the

Purple Eagles tied the game at 28-28 with an Erika Harris three pointer, Lamar's

Emily Spickler knocked down a triple with 19 second to play to give Lamar the three

point lead. Spickler led Lamar's first half offense, draining all four of her three

point attempts, for 12 points.

Nikki Williams, who had just three points at the break, finished with a game-high 20

points as she knocked down two three pointers and went 7-9 from the free throw line.

Spickler finished with 14 points and Agnija Reke scored a career-high 10 points.

Trashanna Smith led the way for Lamar on the boards, pulling down a game-high 12

rebounds.

As a team the Lady Cardinals shot 35.7 percent from the field, making 20 of their 56

shots, while Niagara finished with an 18 of 56 shooting effort for 34 percent. The

Purple Eagles won the rebounding battle 39 to 37, while LU won the turnover battle

with Niagara giving it away 18 times to Lamar's 14.

The Lady Cards will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they take

on the University of Texas in Austin, Texas in their first game of 2009.

[badndn]

I heard Larry Tidwell on TV the other night before they played ND saying that they really wanted to beat ND so they could play ISU and not Niagra because They would beat Niagra easily and they wanted the ISU challenge. Might want to watch what he says in the media from now on.