KATY — Thursday was a historic victory for the Lamar Cardinals.
The Southland Conference’s No. 8-seeded Cardinals took down No. 5 Houston Baptist 98-95 in double overtime in the first round of the league tournament.
It was the first double-overtime game since an 80-76 victory over McNeese State on Feb. 26, 1985. The Cardinals (12-18) and Cowgirls (19-11) square off for a third time this season at 11 a.m. Friday in the tournament’s second round at the Merrell Center.
Lamar put up one of the grittiest performances since Robin Harmony took over in 2013-14.
The Cardinals forced a SLC Tournament-record 32 turnovers and also set the tourney record with 21 steals.
Lamar never trailed in the second overtime and took the lead for good behind two free throws from sophomore Baileigh O’Dell. Her freebies gave Lamar an 88-86 advantage.
O’Dell scored six of the first seven total points in double overtime, the last three coming off a trey to give Lamar a 92-88 lead with 3:44 left.
It was a gutsy offensive performance from someone who started the game 2-of-17 shooting.
“As a shooter you have to learn how to forget the ones you miss,” O’Dell said. “Unfortunately at the start I couldn’t make anything. My teammates picked me up and told me to keep shooting because they needed me at the end of the game.”
The Lamar win was gritty mainly because HBU (14-15) shot the ball so well and had a 59-44 rebounding advantage. The Huskies shot 47 percent and Anna Strickland had 21 points and a SLC-record 31 rebounds. Strickland was two assists and three blocks away from a quadruple-double.
Lamar shot a program-record tying 52 free throws against HBU and made a school-record 40 freebies.
“We knew defense was going to be a big factor,” SLC Defensive Player of the Year Chastadie Barrs said. “We know Strickland was a top scorer and we had to contain her to get the win.”
The freshman Barrs recorded her first career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She had four steals and four assists.
Lamar’s lone senior, Addesha Colliins, finished with a team-high 23 points and was slowed down for much of the overtime periods with a leg cramp. Laka Blache and O’Dell each finished with 16 points and Khali Pippins-Tryon added 11 points.
Pippins-Tryon played 32 minutes off the bench for Lamar after SLC Freshman of the Year Kiara Desamours fouled out with eight points. Blache (16 points, 6 boards) also fouled out.
Lamar took a 74-69 lead with 3:53 left in regulation off a layup from Barrs.
HBU’s Monet Neal (21 points, nine rebounds) tied the game at 76-76 with 1:47 left. The two teams each hit a free throw before sending the game into overtime tied at 77-77.
The Huskies were the ones to start the first OT with some momentum. HBU went up 83-79 with 2:08 remaining in overtime off a free throw from Strickland.
Collins inched the Cardinals back in it with a pair of free throws. With 47 seconds left O’Dell nailed a free throw to give Lamar an 84-83 lead.
“We never tell our kids not to shoot,” Harmony said of her confidence in O’Dell to shoot even after starting off so poorly from the field. “They always have the green light. Baileigh is a shooter. Shooters have no conscience. Trust me, Baileigh doesn’t think of the ones she missed, and she hit the big one.”
O’Dell finished 5 of 22 from the field and 3 of 11 behind the arc. Collins was 15 of 18 from the free-throw line.
Lamar and HBU went into the second OT tied at 86-86.
“I know we played a really good team today,” Harmony said. “I think our young kids finally decided it was time. We have been getting beat and they were heartbreakers. It could have happened again today. It was leaning towards that side. It was a gritty win for us. We came up with big time plays when we needed to. Our kids grew up today.”
O’Dell said the team is now ready to avenge the two losses this season to McNeese. The Cardinals lost to the Cowgirls 92-84 and 76-69 in back-to-back games in late February.
“Excitement” is how O’Dell described her thoughts on playing McNeese again. “It is hard to beat a team three times. We are excited to get another shot at them, especially in the tournament. We are amped after this double-overtime win.”