Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — The Lamar women’s basketball team goes for its 22nd straight home win when it hosts Sam Houston State in a Southland Conference contest at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Montagne Center.

Saturday’s game is the opener of a hoops doubleheader. The LU men host Sam Houston State in the nightcap at 4:30 p.m.

An LU win would surpass the 21-game Montagne Center winning streak that spanned the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. The current streak started with last season’s home-opening 95-49 win over St. Thomas. LU went 15-0 at home last season and is 6-0 at the Montagne Center this season. The Cards are outscoring their visiting opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game this season.

“We always take pride in playing well at home and defending our nest,” LU coach Robin Harmony said. “We love playing at home.”

LU (10-6 overall, 5-1 Southland) enters the weekend one game behind conference-leading Stephen F. Austin in the standings. SFA (14-3, 6-0) is idle Saturday. Meanwhile Central Arkansas (13-5, 6-1) hosts Abilene Christian (12-5, 6-1) in a battle of two teams just a half-game ahead of LU in the standings.

The Cardinals had just one day to recover from Thursday’s 77-54 home win over Incarnate Word, a contest that saw LU’s Chastadie Barrs become the Southland Conference’s all-time steals leader. The junior guard had a career-high 12 steals in the win to give her 368 for her career, surpassing the previous mark of 359 set by Nina Randle of Louisiana-Monroe. Barrs has at least one steal in all 77 games of her career. Barrs, who led the nation in steals last season, is doing it again this year, averaging 6.44 thefts per contest.

Moe Kinard, who had a game-high 23 points against Incarnate Word, leads LU in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game. Barrs averages 12.7 points per game to go along with a conference-best 6.2 assists per outing. DeA’ngela Mathis, who averages 10.5 points per game overall, is averaging a team-leading 17.2 points per game in conference play.

The Cardinals lead the nation with 274 steals and an average of 17.1 steals per game. LU also tops the nation in turnovers forced (27.50 per game) and in turnover margin (plus 13.75 per game).

Sam Houston State (3-12, 0-6) has lost 10 straight games since a 74-68 overtime win at home against Jackson State on Dec. 12. The Bearkats are 0-6 on the road this season.

Jenniffer Oramas leads the Bearkats in scoring at 10.9 points per game. Oramas is averaging a team-leading 10.2 points per game in conference play.

LU leads the overall series 33-27. Harmony is 6-2 against Sam Houston State during her time at LU. Last season, the Cardinals swept a pair of games from the Bearkats, a 70-44 win at Sam Houston State and an 84-51 victory at the Montagne Center.

Following Saturday’s game, LU heads to Nicholls State for a game at 6 p.m. Wednesday before coming back to Beaumont to open a four-game homestand, starting with a clash against archrival McNeese State at 2 p.m. Jan. 27.

PROMOTIONS

Fans attending Saturday’s doubleheader will receive a free rally towel courtesy of MCT Credit Union while supplies last. All Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts attending Saturday’s twin bill will receive a free general-admission ticket if they wear their scout uniform.