Lamar rallies late to defeat Jaguars

With the game tied midway through the second period, the Lamar Lady Cardinals quickly took command.

It was the Cardinals (4-1) first lead of the game and they never looked back.

Kalis Loyd of Lamar, who surpassed the 1,000 point mark in the Cardinals win over Louisiana-Lafayette last Friday, had 28 points, seven rebounds and three steals Monday night as the Cardinals rallied from a seven point deficit on the road for its third straight victory, 70-62, at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Monique Whittaker of Lamar added 14 points for the Cardinals, which held the Jaguars to 35 percent shooting in the second period, giving up only 24 points.

Southern (1-2) dropped their second game in a row, including a 57-44 loss at South Alabama Nov 15.

"We just have to continue to execute in the half court and clam down and trust our teammates," Jaguars head coach Sandy Pugh said after the game. "The thing that I don't like is just not being able to execute like we should've in the crunch situations."

The Cardinals scored 17 points off 17 Jaguar turnovers, going on a tear in the final five-minutes to turn a 55-48 deficit into a 67-60 lead with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

The Cardinals trailed the entire game before Loyd hit her last five shots that eventually sealed the game.

"At her size she can post-up, she can shoot the three, she can do a lot of things," Pugh said. "We wanted to sag and make her be a perimeter shooter. I thought we did a good job holding her in the first half. The second half, they just went to her which is what good teams do." 

The Jaguars defense held Loyd to four points in the first half and Lamar to 35 percent shooting. Southern led 33-27 at halftime, shooting 50 percent from the floor, led by sophomore guard Adrian Sanders, who led the Jaguars with 15 points.

Pugh added that the team wasn't very effective in their half court offense, which scored 36 points in the paint and 15 second chance points. The Jaguar bench outscored the Cardinals 21-9 led by freshman guard Jasmine Jefferson.

"We a young team," Pugh said. We're trying to incorporate young players. The one thing I saw was we definitely have the athleticism. We just got to continue to grow."

Pugh and her team begin a seven-game road trip starting Dec. 3 at Louisiana-Lafayette, then a Dec. 11 date at Tulane, who defeated the Jaguars in the Women's National Invitational Tournament last spring. The Jaguars will also begin conference play on their trip beginning with Prairie View — who defeated the Jaguars in the conference title game also in the spring — and followed with a game against Texas Southern.

In total, the Jaguars' next six games, including dates at Ohio State and Washington, are road dates. Southern will not play in the Clark Center until it hosts Grambling State Jan. 7.

"Sandy Pugh and the Southern Jaguars are first class," said head coach Larry Tidwell of Lamar. "We knew we had to play hard to win. I think this team is better than the team we played last year."

The Cardinals defeated the Jaguars 87-54 at home last season, who will head to the BTI Tip-off Classic at the University of Kansas Friday.