KFDM COOP Posted January 7, 2007 Report Posted January 7, 2007 LU Women open up SLC play with win BEAUMONT - While beauty may not have been the name of the game for the Lamar women's basketball team on Saturday, the Lady Cardinals certainly didn't lack in determination. In the Southland Conference opener, a hustling Lamar squad stymied Texas-San Antonio into 31 percent shooting from the field and 18 turnovers in a 60-46 Lamar win at the Montagne Center. The victory was familiar territory for the Lady Cardinals, who have now won the SLC opener in four consecutive years. The difference, however, is that Saturday's win sends Lamar to its first three-game winning streak of the season and a 6-8 overall record. "I'd really like to be excited about starting conference with a win, but we've done that the last three years," Lamar coach Leonard Drake said. "We played a quality opponent in UTSA. That team's going to win a lot of games in this league." The Roadrunners, who trailed by 20 with 7:16 remaining in the second half, crawled within 12 on a jumper by guard Terrie Davis with 1:48 remaining in the game. Davis scored all 13 of her points during a 12-minute span of the second period. The Lady Cardinals, however, answered Davis' shot with a fast-break layup by forward Quiana N'Joku to spark a 5-2 Lamar run. Lamar, which will continue league play at Stephen F. Austin on Thursday, was led by senior Alexis Timpone's 16 points. Timpone hit five 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the second period. "What we did is we held on to home court and I think we're starting to establish that we can play well at home," Drake said. "I'm more excited about the way we played defense for most of the game. I wasn't really happy about the last three minutes, but for most of the game we played real solid defense." Texas-San Antonio (4-9, 0-1) also received 12 points from Tia Bogan, who scored only two points during the second half. The Lady Cardinals held a 27-17 advantage at halftime, and the closest the Roadrunners got was 34-25 with 13:11 left in the second half. Freshman Brittney Williams joined Timpone in double figures with 13 points down low, while senior forward LaToya Carson added 10 points and nine boards for the Lady Cardinals. "I think we're starting to gel a little bit," Drake said. "Now we've got a week to prepare for Stephen F. (Austin) on the road. We need to get ourselves ready to play there (Nacogdoches), but we're certainly happy to be 1-0 in the league right now." [email protected]
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