Sam Houston State women’s basketball failed to win its third straight game as the Bearkats fell 87-68 against Lamar on Thursday at Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats’ defensive end struggled to secure defensive rebounds, resulting in wide-open Lamar three pointers. The Cardinals shot 38 percent on 10-26 from behind the arc, proving why they are second in the Southland Conference in three-point attempts. Lamar also had 16-second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
The Kats had trouble early on with their perimeter defense against Lamar. The Cardinals shot 50 percent from three-point range in the first half. Cardinals’ senior guard Shauna Long led the Cardinals with 19 points, including 6-10 from the field.
Turnovers were another problem for SHSU as the Kats had 28. The Cardinals capitalized scoring 30 points off the Kat’ turnovers.
“We got to cut those down,” head coach Brenda Welch-Nichols said. “We had mental fatigue.”
Although the Lamar Cardinals set up a full-court trap, the Bearkats fast break seemed to break the press. The Kats got off to a hot shooting start as they shot 50 percent in the first half. The hot shooting continued in the second half as the Kats shot 50 percent from the field
However, the Kats failed to make shots down the stretch.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the hole,” Welch-Nichols said.
Junior guard Shernise Robertson showed leadership by commanding her teammates. Robertson finished the game with 29 points and four assists. This now makes six straight games with more than 20 points for Robertson and sixth straight game leading the team in scoring. However, Robertson’s effort still was not enough to get the SLC win.
“We got to be more mentally prepared,” Robertson said . “We weren’t focused.”
SHSU fans argued with the officiating crew for most of the game. The Kats finished the game with 22 fouls while Lamar only had 20.
“We are not going to blame the officials,” Nichols said.
The Kats host Houston Baptist in a basketball double header at Johnson Coliseum on Saturday. Women’s tip-off is set for 2 p.m. with the SHSU men’s game following.