Lamar women cruise past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and into Southland championship game

For the first time in 13 years, the Lamar University women’s basketball team will play for a spot in the NCAA tournament. 

The Cardinals cruised to a 65-53 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday to earn their place in the Southland Conference championship game. It’s the first title-game appearance for the Lamar women’s program since winning the championship in 2010.

After allowing a fourth-quarter comeback in Tuesday’s overtime win over McNeese, the Cardinals found themselves in a similar spot during Wednesday’s win. Lamar led by 14 points entering the final period, but saw that advantage cut down to as few as 8 points with 7:02 left in the game.

RELATED: Lamar advances in Southland tournament with dramatic win over McNeese

This time, however, Lamar didn’t let the lead slip away. Malay McQueen made a clutch 3-pointer to stop the Islanders’ run, pushing the Cardinals’ margin back up to double digits. Lamar’s advantage remained relatively comfortable the rest of the way en route to a tournament semifinal win.

Lamar’s defense smothered Corpus Christi, holding the Islanders to 29% shooting from the field. 

“That’s what we do. That’s our identity,” head coach Aqua Franklin said of Lamar’s defensive effort. “Teams may score on us, but they’re not going to score how they want to.”

McQueen and freshman guard R’Mani Taylor each scored a season-high 17 points for Lamar, but did so in different ways.

Taylor got to the foul line eight times and did most of her scoring in the paint, while McQueen provided outside shooting. 

Prior to Wednesday’s win, McQueen had scored in double figures just once over Lamar’s last nine games. 

“My team expects me to shoot the ball, so when I’m open, I need to have the confidence to score,” McQueen said. 

RELATED: Lamar basketball players earn Southland superlatives 

The Cardinals will face No. 1 seed Southeastern Louisiana in Thursday’s title game. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Lamar won both regular-season games against Southeastern Louisiana. The Cardinals won 57-47 on the road in early January, followed by a 66-54 home victory over the Lions on Feb. 23.

“This is where we’re supposed to be, and we’ve got more basketball to play,” Franklin said. 

MFaye@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/mattGfaye