Harmony earns victory No. 200 rather easily
Published 9:38 pm Saturday, February 25, 2017
Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT – Any doubt that Lamar women’s basketball coach Robin Harmony would earn her 200th coaching victory Saturday were dispelled rather quickly as the Cardinals rolled to a 74-22 Southland Conference win over visiting Houston Baptist at the Montagne Center.
The Cardinals (20-6 overall, 13-3 Southland) led 11-4 after one quarter before outscoring the Huskies 29-5 in the second period to take a 40-9 lead into the locker room. LU didn’t let off the gas in the third quarter, outscoring HBU 24-6 to lead 64-15 heading into the final period before putting it on cruise control as Harmony improved her career record to 200-99 all-time, including her stints at Miami and St. Thomas.
Harmony, who is in her fourth season at Lamar, is 67-51 at the helm of the Cardinals.
“There have been a lot of good players and a lot of good assistant coaches who helped me get to 200 wins,” Harmony said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
The win was more than just a milestone for Harmony. The victory put the Cardinals in the driver’s seat for one of the top two seeds in next month’s Southland Conference Tournament, which would give LU an automatic spot in the semifinals. LU moved a game ahead of SFA for the second seed after the Lumberjacks fell to first-place Central Arkansas on Saturday.
LU trails Central Arkansas by one game with two games remaining. LU can guarantee itself a top-two seed by winning its two remaining regular-season games.
“It’s a good win for us,” Harmony said. “Houston Baptist is fighting to just get into the tournament. We had to be ready for them and we were.”
The Huskies (6-20, 4-12) couldn’t handle LU’s pressure defense, committing 34 turnovers on the day. LU outscored HBU 37-1 in points off turnovers.
The 22 points scored by HBU tied for the sixth-lowest total by an LU opponent in program history.
LU had two players post double-doubles. Kiandra Bowers had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season, while Chastadie Bars had her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Barrs flirted with a double-double, finishing with eight assists and eight steals. She now has at least one steal in all 57 career games.
Ashlan Miles has 11 points and Moe Kinard added 10 points for the Cardinals. Shannon Jones led HBU with eight points.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals play their final home game of the regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday as Nicholls State comes to the Montagne Center. LU wraps up the regular season at 1 p.m. March 4 at McNeese State.
