Strictly Come Dancing: Lamar, Southland

Who? The Cardinals of Lamar. Somewhat less formally, the Lady Cards.

Where? Beaumont, TX, home of Babe Didrikson.

When? Friday the 12th, in Katy, TX.

How? Darika Hill put up her third consecutive double-double to help the Lady Cards obliterate Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 86-59.

RPI: 81

SOS: 242

Upset? Nope. Lamar finished on top of the West Division of the Southland with a 13-3 record in conference, and earned the top seed in the Southland's tournament thanks to a head-to-head win against Eastern Division champion Stephen F. Austin.

For Lamar, the offense starts with junior guard and Southland Conference Player of the Year Jenna Plumley, who leads her team in scoring and distributing with 14.4 points and 6.7 assists. She gets strong help inside from junior forward Trashanna Smith's 7.7 rebounds and two blocks per game, as well as from senior forward Darika Hill, the team's second-leading scorer (13.4) and rebounder (6.9). All nine active players for the Lady Cards average at least ten minutes per game.

Their worst loss is in conference, a 92-77 defeat at Sam Houston State. Their best win was against Rice. While they get moxie points for scheduling three of the four Big XII teams in Texas, the closest they got in any of those games was 14 at Texas Tech.

No Lamar player stands over six-one. This will probably be to their detriment in the tournament.