Lamar Wins First Southland Tournament Championship
Highlight Video
By Brandon C. Williams
Southland.org
KATY, Texas - Lamar's Cardinals will be flying to the NCAA Women's Tournament.
Literally.
The top-seeded Cardinals capped off a dominating run through the Southland Conference Tournament with an impressive 86-59 win over third-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Merrell Center on Friday night, clinching the school's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since an Elite Eight run in 1991.
Lamar (26-7) will learn its destination when the women's bracket is announced on Monday night.
"Our players played with emotion, was physical and were very spiritual," said Cardinals coach Larry Tidwell. "We played together as a team."
Tidwell's team concept was best defined by the 22 assists the Cardinals recorded, including 12 from conference player of the year Jenna Plumley, who added 13 points and five steals in the win.
The Cardinals missed their first seven shots as the Islanders (22-10) jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. Once Lamar shook off the opening spurt of A&M-Corpus Christi, it responded with a dizzying barrage of 3-pointers that permanently swung momentum in its favor.
In a span of 4:59, Lamar drilled five treys, including four on consecutive possessions. Hill hit the first three, while Plumley added the other two, which gave the Cardinals a 20-9 lead with 11:39 to go in the half.
"They hit four 3-pointers on us uncontested," said A&M-Corpus Christi coach Robert Robinson. "It built up their confidence and deflated ours. That sums it up in a nutshell."
Lamar finished the night shooting 10 of 21 from beyond the arc. Its ability to successfully dial long distance allowed it to finally put the game away midway in the second half after the Islanders embarked on a 17-4 run that whittled a 48-27 lead to 52-43 with 11:31 remaining.
Consecutive treys from Hill and Plumley extended the lead to 58-45, a margin that was further swelled when Ashley Crawford (15 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers that gave Lamar a comfortable 73-55 edge at the 4:55 mark.
"We attacked, we attacked, we attacked," said Tidwell of Lamar's game plan.
As impressive as the Cardinals' long range marksmanship was, their defensive effort was even better. Lamar held the Islanders to 30 percent shooting (21 of 70) on the night as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was rarely able to find the same zone that helped it score a tournament-high 99 points in Tuesday's opening round win over Sam Houston State.
The defensive pressure helped force the Islanders into 22 turnovers, including 12 steals by the Cardinals.
"We've played our best basketball of the season this week," said Tidwell.
Tidwell was quick to begin lobbying for the Islanders to receive an invite to the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"The Southland Conference is a very good conference, and it deserves to have two teams represent it in the (postseason)," he said. "That is a very good team that coach Robinson has over there."
Plumley joined Hill on the all-tournament team, along with the Islanders' Elisa Beagle, Jade Davis and UT Arlington's Meghan Nelson.
Beagle, Davis and Deziree Green led A&M-Corpus Christi with 11 points, while Beagle added 14 rebounds.
"This was a learning experience for our team," said Beagle. "Our team made a good run considering where everyone thought we would finish."
The Cardinals are planning a watch party at Montange Center on Monday night as they await their first round destination.
"Coach Tidwell said he was going to invite the entire Golden Triangle for the watch party," said senior Brittney Williams. "I'm looking forward to that."
All-Tournament Team
Meghan Nelson, UT Arlington
Elisa Beagle, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Jade Davis, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Jenna Plumley, Lamar
Darika Hill, Lamar (MVP)
.