BEAUMONT, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team fell, 59-55, in a game that went down to the wire against Lamar on Wednesday night in the Montagne Center.
 
With just seven players in the rotation against Lamar, UIW stayed in the game every step of the way. Freshman Jaaucklyn Moore led the team for the fifth time this season with 16 points, her fifth double-figure performance.
 
"As short-handed as we were, to not have two starters and essentially a third of our rotation not available, it was an incredible effort by the seven that played tonight," said head coach Jeff Dow.
 
The first quarter was even paced as the San Antonio Cardinals opened scoring for the game getting ahead to an early 4-0 start. Lamar answered accordingly, despite an uncharacteristic quarter that saw the LU with no steals, while UIW snagged four and put up eight points off turnovers, still, Lamar was ahead by one point at the end of the first quarter, 14-13.
 
Myra Bell came off the bench in the second quarter putting away five points as the Cardinals got ahead off an 11-5 run heading into the media timeout. Lamar flipped a switch as S. Dean and Jayden Pimentel put UIW on its heels with six steals. Arielle Adams hit a 3-pointer as the clock wound down in the half to hold a narrow 28-27 lead at the break.
 
Lamar took off on a 9-2 run to extend its lead by six, its largest of the game up to that point. Senior Kara Speer sparked a UIW 7-2 run with a 3-pointer to close the gap but was followed by a three-minute scoring drought on both sides of the ball. Lamar held the lead heading into the final stretch, 41-39.
 
Once again, LU took off on a scoring run to get ahead. A 10-3 run led by Bebe Galloway's six points in the run, and the Beaumont Cardinals had their largest lead of the game 51-42.
 
Things began to look up when Moore went on a 6-0 run stealing the ball and going coast-to-coast each time to get UIW within striking distance. Bell's clutch shooting from the charity stripe with 1:42 left in the game gave UIW its first lead in the fourth quarter, 54-53.  
 
Lamar took back the lead with a 3-pointer from Michaela Wilson, 56-54 with 19 seconds to go. Both teams would head to the free-throw line shortly after, but time expired and UIW was unable to complete its comeback falling 59-55.
 
"We fell behind by nine with a little over six minutes left in the game and I thought we showed a tremendous amount of grit to battle back and go on a 12-2 run in less than five minutes to take the lead," Dow said.
 
"Hopefully, we'll gain some confidence from this game even in defeat. Six of the seven that played for us tonight are in their first year of Division I basketball, with four of those being freshmen, so this can certainly be a valuable experience for each of them."
 
UP NEXT
UIW returns to San Antonio for a three-game homestand to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Feb. 27, Lamar on March 1, and Houston Baptist on March 3.
 
STAY TUNED
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook. 
  
Follow the team on Twitter @UIWWBB and Instagram @uiw_womenshoops.