Lady Cards Preseason SLC Favorites

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BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women’s basketball team was picked to finish atop the Southland Conference standings in preseason polls of the league’s coaches and sports information directors, the SLC announced Wednesday.

“It doesn’t matter where you are picked to start the season, it’s where you finish at the end of the season,” LU coach Robin Harmony said. “We’re going to have a target on our backs, but we can use that as motivation.”

LU was picked just ahead of Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin in the coaches’ poll. The Cardinals totaled 130 points and garnered five first-place votes. Northwestern State, last season’s conference tournament champion, also received five first-place votes, collecting 126 total points. Stephen F. Austin, the defending regular-season champion was picked to finish third, collecting 125 points and two first-place votes.

The conference’s sports information directors gave LU five first-place votes as the Cardinals collected a total of 125 points. Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State each received three first-place votes. SFA was picked to finish second, earning 117 points, while Northwestern State was tabbed third with 110 points.

The Cardinals, who finished second in the Southland Conference with a 14-4 record last season, went 17-14 overall. LU returns two seniors, including first-team all-conference senior guard JaMeisha Edwards, who averaged a team-leading 16.1 points per game last season.

Guard Addesha Collins is LU’s only other senior this season. Collins, a transfer from Tallahassee Community College, averaged 8.9 points per game last year in her first season with the Cardinals.

Post player Kiandra Bowers is the only junior on LU’s roster this season. Bowers averaged 9.1 points per game as a sophomore, while finishing second on the team in rebounding (6.0 per game) and rebounding (13).

The 2015-16 LU squad is bolstered by a recruiting class that was ranked tops in the conference and 84th in the nation by All Star Girls Report. Leading the list of five newcomers is forward Kiara Desamours, named by College Sports Madness as the Southland Conference’s preseason freshman of the year. Desamours, a product of Dunbar High School in Fort Myers, Fla., averaged 14.8 points and 8.1 rebounds for her high school career, helping Dunbar win one state championship while finishing second in the state on two other occasions.

“We’re definitely a young team,” Harmony said. “Some of your players are going to have the chance to contribute right away.”

The Cardinals open the season with a pair of tough non-conference road games. LU is at Oklahoma State at 11 a.m. Nov. 13 and at Utah at 8 p.m. Nov. 17. The home opener is 7 p.m. Nov. 19 against Louisiana College at the Montagne Center. LU starts Southland Conference play at Nicholls at 1 p.m. Jan. 2. New Orleans provides the opposition for the conference home opener at 5 p.m. Jan. 4.

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2015-16 Women’s Basketball Preseason Polls
Coaches’ Poll
Place Team (first place votes) Total
1. Lamar University (5) 130
2. Northwestern State (5) 126
3. Stephen F. Austin (2) 125
4. McNeese State (2) 123
5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 100
6. Houston Baptist 92
7. Central Arkansas 88
8. Nicholls 80
9. Abilene Christian 74
10. Sam Houston State 61
11. New Orleans 47
12. Southeastern Louisiana 28
13. UIW 18

SID Poll
Place Team (first place votes) Total
1. Lamar University (5) 125
2. Stephen F. Austin (3) 117
3. Northwestern State (3) 110
4. McNeese State (1) 108
5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 105
6. Houston Baptist (1) 87
T7. Central Arkansas 73
T7. Nicholls 73
9. Abilene Christian 69
10. Sam Houston State 53
11. New Orleans 41
12. Southeastern Louisiana 35
13. UIW 18

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