BEAUMONT — The Lamar Cardinals did not have time to celebrate and worry about being on a 10-game winning streak after Thursday’s win over Incarnate Word.

Lamar, 30 minutes after beating UIW 83-54, was getting on a bus and heading to Abilene. The Cardinals face the Wildcats at 2 p.m. Saturday and coach Robin Harmony wanted the trip out of the way early.

So, sophomore Moe Kinard was already putting her 21 points against UIW behind her and gearing up for a bus ride that was to be over 400 miles long and would take between seven and eight hours.

It was not the press conference one would expect after such a lopsided win over a Southtland Conference opponent. Thursday’s victory means Lamar is 4-0 heading into Saturday’s showdown against 3-1 Abilene.

Stephen F. Austin defeated Abilene 70-61 Thursday as the Lumberjacks moved to 4-0.

“I don’t really look at the blowout,” Kinard said. “I look at the mistakes that we made. Sometimes it is our mistakes that can be corrected. We need to keep going in practice and keep the intensity up.”
Freshman Bre’Osha Scott came off the bench and played 19 minutes for Harmony. She finished with four points, three rebounds and two assists.

Scott does know what the winning streak is at and does think Lamar can keep winning.

“I think if we cut back on beating up on ourselves when we make a mistake, we will be alright,” Scott said.

Kiandra Bowers had her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kiara Desamours finished with 12 points and six boards and Ashlan Miles put in 18 points.

The Cardinals shot 60 percent for the game and 61.5 percent from behind the three-point line.

“We had good shots, took good shots and we were patient,” Harmony said. “We worked the ball around. We know we can put up a lot of points but now the new devil is the turnovers,” Harmony said. “We just have to relax and value the ball more. We need to make sure we fix this.”

Lamar finished with 18 turnovers and the Cardinals’ defense forced UIW into 20.

Sophomore Chastadie Barrs once again was the main force on Lamar’s defense with four steals to go with seven assists, three points and three rebounds.

She has at least one steal in each of her 45 career games. Barrs jumped up to fourth all time in Lamar history with 187 steals. LaToya Carson holds down third with 202 steals.

Lamar could not get away from the visiting Cardinals in the first half.

It was hard to figure out exactly how UIW held so close in the first quarter. Lamar was 8 of 16 from the field and UIW was 5 of 12.

Both teams hit two three-pointers and UIW had only one more free throw. UIW had five turnovers and Lamar had four as the home team led 21-16 heading into the second.

Lamar’s shooting stayed hot in the second quarter and it led to a 40-28 advantage at the break.

The Cardinals started to pull away in the third by outscoring UIW 28-13 to take a 68-41 lead into the game’s final eight minutes.

Lamar won handily and yet Harmony was not ready to celebrate and throw a big party. She looks at Saturday as if both ACU and Lamar are both 0-0.

She doesn’t even think about the 10 straight wins and the fact the last time Lamar lost was on Nov. 20 against Kansas State. Thanksgiving had not even came yet.

Forget the fact Lamar has beat its last 10 opponents by at least 14 points.

“I don’t care what has happened in the past,” Harmony added. “I am concerned about what we have that and what we have coming. If we get cocky, someone is going to bite us. We have not reached our potential as a team. Hopefully come February we can become a great team and not just a good team.”
•
Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe