Kats to host league-leading Lamar
1/24/2019 3:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game 17
Saturday, Jan. 26 • Huntsville • 3:00 p.m. • Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
Sam Houston State (9-7, 4-2 Southland) vs Lamar (13-4, 6-0 Southland)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • Purchase Tickets • @BearkatsWBB on Twitter
HUNTSVILLE – With two straight wins behind them, the Sam Houston State Bearkats will have arguably their toughest test to date on Saturday when they host league-leading Lamar at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The game is set to tip off at 3:00 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum and can be watched on ESPN3 with Tom Franklin on the call. Fans can follow along via live stats, or get updates by following @BearkatsWBB on Twitter.
The Bearkats backed up last week's win at Houston Baptist with a win on Wednesday at home over Northwestern State, holding the Lady Demons to just 23.7 percent shooting in the game and never trailing for the duration of the 40-minute contest.
Lydia Baxter had her seventh double-double in her last nine games with 16 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, the most by any Bearkat since 2012-13 and tied for the most by any player in the SLC this season. She currently ranks in a tie for second in the SLC with 8.6 rebounds per game and is averaging a double-double in SLC play.
The victory moved the Kats to 9-7 on the season under first-year head coach Ravon Justice. She is looking to become the first Bearkat head coach in the Division I era to post a winning record in her first year with the program. The only two first-year head coaches at SHSU to post winning records were Jody Conradt's 17-2 mark in 1969-70 (the first year of the program) and SHSU's all-time winningest coach, Rebecca Bilsing, who went 18-8 for the 1973-74 season.
As a team the Bearkats enter Saturday averaging 72.3 points per game and are shooting 41.7 percent from the floor, both marks that are near the top of the SLC standings.
As for the Cardinals, they will come in looking for their ninth victory in a row overall after a 77-51 road win at UIW on Wednesday. The preseason favorites to back up their 2017-18 league title, Lamar has won each of its first six league games and also has a road victory at Texas A&M to its credit from earlier this season.
Led by seniors Chastadie Barrs and Moe Kinard, Lamar is averaging 79.5 points per game while forcing 25.6 turnovers per contest. Earlier this season Barrs became just the second player in NCAA history to total 1,000 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 500 steals in a career and she is currently just 69 steals short of tying the all-time mark of 624 set by Florida A&M's Natalie White.
Over the Cardinals' first six contests they are averaging just 51.2 points per game, which is the lowest among all SLC teams in league-only games, and have not allowed more than 58 points in any of those games. They are 10-0 this year when holding teams under 60 points.
SERIES vs LAMAR
Lamar holds a 35-27 edge in the all-time series and has won eight of the last 10 games dating back to 2014. The last Bearkat wins in the series came in 2016 when the Kats won 78-76 in Beaumont and backed it up with a 78-75 win less than two months later in Huntsville. LU has swept each of the season series over the past two seasons.
