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Hastings gets Lamar going in 71-59 victory over Denver

The Cards return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 18, when they open Southland Conference against Southeastern Louisiana

BEAUMONT, Texas — Holding the 13th-best offense in the country to 22 points less than their scoring average, Lamar University's defense paved the way to a big 12 point victory over the University of Denver. The Cardinal women's basketball team took down the Pioneers 71-59 in the Montagne Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
"What a game," said head coach Aqua Franklin. "What a win. I'm really excited about how hard our young ladies played. We got back to the basics defensively the last couple of days and clearly that showed as we forced 27 turnovers. That's how we have to play, that's what we want to look like, and it was fun."
 
Angel Hastings led all scorers with 22 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and an 8-of-9 mark from the free throw line. The sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, had four rebounds and a steal as well. Fellow Alamo City native Amber Vidal scored 19 points on a 6-for-14 mark from the floor including 3-for-5 from three and a perfect 4-for-4 stretch from the penalty stripe. Jadyn Pimentel had six points, two boards, eight assists, and four steals, and Briana Laidler had seven points and six boards.
 
Lamar's defensive effort was obvious from the outset, forcing two misses and two turnovers in the first four possessions by the Pioneers. Pimentel got Lamar on the board first by driving into the paint and hitting a fading jumper, but Denver was able to tie the game up on the next possession, a driving layup by the main scoring option for Denver, Madison Nelson. The 6'1" senior entered the game averaging 18 points and 12.6 boards a game, but LU's posts would answer the challenge and hold her scoreless the rest of the half, and the Cardinal guards got her into foul trouble early on a couple of charges and a shooting foul.
 
Denver took its first lead of the game, 4-2, on a driving layup with 6:16 left in the quarter, but Vidal answered with a three on the other end off a Pimentel pass, and LU held a 5-4 lead at the first media stoppage. A three from the Pioneers flopped the lead back to Denver just a minute later, and two free throws gave Denver its largest lead of the game, 9-6, with 3:35 to go. Lamar was able to close the period on a 6-2 run thanks to four turnovers by Denver, and after the first quarter LU led 12-11. LU got 10 of its 12 points off Pioneer turnovers.
 
The Cards and Pioneers traded baskets for the next two minutes before Hastings put LU ahead by four, 19-15, on a three-point play with 7:46 left in the half. The two teams missed the next five field goals and had five turnovers through the next two minutes, and Vidal put LU ahead by six, 21-15, on a fast break layup following a steal. But Denver refused to go out quietly, and a 9-2 run by the Pioneers gave Denver a brief 24-23 lead with 2:45 to go. Rikiah Cowart put the good guys back out front, 25-24, on a jumper in the paint, and LU led by three on free throws before Denver tied it at 27-27 on a three with just 13 seconds on the clock.
 
Lamar took the lead for good about two minutes into the third quarter on a three-pointer by Vidal on a pass from Ashlan Miles. LU would stretch that lead to seven, 40-33, by the media stoppage, and Vidal put LU ahead by nine on three free throws with just three minutes left. Denver scored the last four points of the quarter to trim that lead to five, 45-40, after 30 minutes of action.
 
Denver's Madison Nelson finally came to life in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of the team's 19 points in the period before she fouled out. The Cards limited her to 10 points, eight rebounds, and an assist while forcing six turnovers. Lamar's offense went to work in the fourth, outscoring Denver 26-19 and leading by as much as 15 with five minutes to go. Lamar outlasted Denver and won the game 71-59.
 
The Cards return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 18, when they open Southland Conference play on the road. LU will travel to Hammon, La., to play at Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. A home game against Northwestern State on Dec. 21 will be the final game in the 2019 portion of the season.

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