SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team will play the second game of a three game home stand when it hosts Lamar on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the McDermott Center.
 
The Cardinals are in search of their first home conference victory of the campaign after stumbling in the final minutes against SFA last Saturday, 66-56. Lamar enters play atop the Southland conference, along with SFA, with a 5-0 conference record. The visiting Cardinals are 12-4 on the year entering play.

 
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A STARR IS BORN

• Since the start of conference play, freshman forward Starr Omozee has emerged as a key contributor for UIW.
• Omozee is averaging nine points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in an average of 25.8 minutes through her first five SLC games.
• While not a high volume outside shooter, she chooses her deep shots well, hitting three of her five attempts in SLC games.
• She leads the team with 95 rebounds this season, second most among freshman in the conference.
• Prior to conference play, the Pflugerville HS product produced three double-doubles in her first six games, a UIW freshman record.
• Against GCU (11/9/18), she posted 11 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first freshman besides Robinson (2016) to record a double-double in UIW DI history.
• She set multiple season-highs in her first game at the McDermott Center (vs. Houston, 11/16/18), scoring her second double-double (19 pts, 10 rebs) and making multiple threes in a game for the first time.
• She set the UIW DI record for most double-doubles by a freshman in a single season in just six games played when she hung 10 points and 11 rebounds on Weber State (11/21).

 
A RAY OF LIGHT

• Freshman guard Macy Ray has established herself as the defensive leader of the team through just six starts.
• After assuming the role of starting point guard against Rice (Dec. 29, 2018), Ray is averaging 29 minutes per game, often with the task of shutting down the highest scoring opposing guard.
• In her six starts, she has held the opposing point guard to below their average field goal percentage in four of them, including holding the McNeese point guard to .250 percent shooting and forcing eight turnovers.
• In her last game, she held the SFA point guard to 0-4 from the field, she was shooting .462 percent from the field in conference games heading into play.

 
 
SPEERHEADING THE OFFENSE

• Sophomore guard Kara Speer has turned a corner in conference play.
• After averaging 2.8 points per game in non-conference, Speer has taken her game to a new level. She's third on the team in ppg (7.6) since the start of SLC play.
• She does a majority of her damage at the line. She leads the team over the last five games with 13 made free throws on a team best .929 shooting from the line (13-14).
• That .929 percentage from the line is second best in the conference, behind Alyssa Quixley from New Orleans (1.000 FT%).
• She has converted her last 12 free throws attempted.
• She led the team in points for the first time this season with 13 points against SFA (Jan. 19).
• She leads the Cardinals backcourt in shooting, having made 11 of her 25 shots from the field - .440 percent.
   

 
SCOUTING LAMAR

• The Lamar Cardinals enter play as one of two teams, also SFA, in the SLC without a conference loss this season.
• They lead the SLC in total offense, averaging 79.7 points per game as a team.
• They are led by Moe Kinard. The senior guard is averaging 18.3 points per game (19.2 in SLC games), the second most in the conference.
• This will be the first of two meetings this season between the two Cardinals. Lamar leads the all-time series 8-0.

 
UP NEXT
UIW closes out its home stand on Saturday when the Cardinals host the Privateers of New Orleans. Tip off for that contest is set for 12:15 p.m. at the McDermott Center.

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