HUNTSVILLE — A scoring outburst in the third quarter helped the Sam Houston women's basketball team cruise to a 88-57 victory over Houston Baptist at Johnson Coliseum Wednesday night.
 
Junior Amber Leggett scored a game-high 21 points, her fourth straight outing where she has scored 20 or more. Senior Courtney Cleveland added 18 points, freshman Diamond Hunter scored a career-high 17 points, freshman Deondra Young chipped in 11 and senior Faith Cook had 10 as SHSU (8-5, 4-3) shot 46 percent from the floor.
 
The Bearkats, who led by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter, began to pull away in the second half, building a double-digit lead the Huskies (6-5, 2-2) couldn't overcome.
 
A pair of free throws by junior Madelyn Batista sparked a 19-1 run that gave Sam Houston a 59-33 advantage in the third quarter. Leggett, Young, Hunter,Cook and Cleveland all scored for the Kats during that stretch.
 
The game was close for most of the first half, but Sam Houston opened up nine-point lead with a 5-0 run in the final minute.
 
After a pair of HBU free throws, Hunter knocked down a 3-pointer in the left corner to make it 37-30. Leggett came up with a steal on the other end of the court, and Hunter turned that into a fast-break layup to send the Bearkats into halftime with some momentum.
 
The Bearkats took a five-point lead in the first quarter by hitting 63 percent of their shots from the floor. Leggett converted an old fashion 3-point play when she knocked down a free throw after being fouled on a layup to make it 23-18 with just over a minute left in the period.
 
Sam Houston returns to action Saturday when the Kats host Nicholls at 2 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team which will face the Colonels at 5.