BEAUMONT — The Lamar Cardinals are on quite a roll right now and coach Robin Harmony is enjoying the ride.

Lamar won its eighth straight game with a 73-42 victory over New Orleans Thursday. The Cardinals are now 2-0 in Southland Conference play and 9-3 overall.

The eight game winning streak is tied for the second longest in program history. Lamar won 14 straight during the 1990-91 season.

New Orleans did not make it easy for Lamar in the first half. The Cardinals led 33-29 at the break but after the start of the third quarter, it was all Lamar.

Lamar was up 40-35 with 4:59 left in the third before the Cardinals went on a 10-0 run to take a 50-35 advantage.

The Cardinals were up 52-40 with seconds left in the third and Lamar started the fourth on a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach as the home team led 61-40 with 5:59 remaining in the game.

The Privateers (6-7, 1-2) scored only 13 points in the second half, two in the fourth quarter.
Thursday was the third game Lamar has forced 30 or more turnovers.

“We hang our hat on defense, and we did a great job of it in the second half,” Harmony said. “We forced them into 18 turnovers in the second half and 30 for the game.”

The game was also a coming out party for freshman Ashlan Miles who scored a career-high 19 points. Miles’ previous high mark was 10 points against St. Thomas on Nov. 16.

“Ashlan really stepped up for us,” Harmony added. “We struggled a bit in the first half but she really came through.”

Lamar had four players finish in double figures as Moe Kinard had 16 points and Kiara Desamours and Kiandra Bowers each finished with 10.

Bowers also had 14 boars for her fifth double-double of the season.

Sophomore Chastadie Barrs continued a streak of her own as she had three steals. She has at least one steal in each of her 43 career games. Barrs added five points and nine assists.

Lamar’s defense also held in check the conference’s leading scorer, UNO’s Randi Brown. Brown finished with 15 points after averaging 21.4 a game coming into Thursday.

“New Orleans is a much better team than there were in the past,” Harmony said. “They are going to be a tough team in this conference.”

Lamar will look to make it nine in a row at 2 p.m. Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana at the Montagne Center. The Lions (3-11, 1-2) were 87-71 winners Thursday over Houston Baptist.