Feb. 27, 2008

BEAUMONT - The Lamar University women's basketball team starts the home stretch of the 2007-08 season Thursday night at the Montagne Center, as they take on their final Southland Conference West division foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m.

The Lady Cardinals enter Thursday's game with a 14-11 overall record and are 7-5 in Southland Conference play. They are coming off of a 64-50 loss at Northwestern State last Saturday.

Lamar is led by freshman Tamara Abalde, who is averaging team highs with 16.4 points per game along with 7.3 rebounds per game, while junior Nikki Williams is averaging 13.8 points per game and has a team-high 97 assists and 64 steals. Sophomore Brittney Williams is averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while senior Aida Bakhos is averaging 7.0 points 7.2 rebounds per game.

As a team the Lady Cards are shooting .395 from the field and are averaging 64.3 points per game while allowing 64 points per game. Lamar has also won the battle on the boards this season, out rebounding their opponents 38.6 to 37.9. A&M-Corpus Christi enters the game with a 9-17 overall record and a 5-7 record in Southland Conference play. They are coming off of losses at Texas State and an overtime loss to UT-Arlington on Saturday in Corpus Christi.

The Islanders balanced scoring attack is led by Elisa Beagle who is averaging team highs in scoring and rebounding with 10.5 points and 7.4 boards per game. Mercedes Cooper and Deziree Green have also been solid offensively, averaging 9.7 and 9.4 points per game respectively.

As a team Corpus Christi is averaging 55.8 points per game while giving up 63.4 points per contest. They are shooting .372 from the field and have been out rebounded 40.7 to 36.3.

After Thursday's game the Lady Cards will be in action again on Saturday afternoon when they take on the McNeese State Cowgirls in Lake Charles, La. Game time is set for 4 p.m. and will be the beginning of a double header with the LU men who tip off at 6:30 p.m.