March 3, 2006

Box Score

Hammond, La. - The Lamar University women's basketball team sealed the eighth spot in the Southland Conference Tournament Friday morning, knocking off the Southeastern Louisiana University Lady Lions 59-49 at the University Center.

The Lady Cardinals built as much as a 12 point lead in the first half of the game, and never trailed again, as they hustled their way to their second straight victory.

After a late first half run by Southeastern tied the game heading into the break, Lamar came out in the second half, and quickly took control. The Lady Cards used a 17-5 run to start the second half, forcing Southeastern to fight from behind.

The Lady Lions climbed to within four points with 27 seconds to play, but clutch free throw shooting by Lamar prevented Southeastern from completing the comeback. Lamar knocked down their final six free throws to seal the deal, as SELA could not score on their offensive end.

The Lady Cardinals, who are the best free throw shooting team in the SLC, struggled from the line overall though, hitting just 16 of 28 for a 57.7 percentage.

The Lady Cardinals were led by freshman Janique Garrett's 17 points, while senior Audrea Samuel collected her second straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Chelsea Gugliotta came up big on the boards, collecting nine rebounds to add to her seven points, while LaToya Carson added eight points.

The biggest stat of the game was the domination the Lady Cardinals had on the boards. Lamar collected 54 rebounds to the Lady Lions 34. Twenty of Lamar's rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor, creating 12 second chance points. Also playing a major role in the victory for Lamar was their defensive pressure which held SELA to 26.8 percent shooting.

Southeastern was led by Brenita Williams' double-double performance, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Williams was the only Lady Lion to score in double figures.

The Lady Cardinals will be in action again Monday in the Southland Conference Tournament. The opponent for Lamar's first round playoff game is yet to be determined, but will be known after tonight's SLC games.