Three Lady Cardinals Earn All Conference Honors :: Abalde Named First Team All SLC and Freshman of the Year

March 10, 2008

BEAUMONT - After leading the Lamar University women's basketball team to the Southland Conference Eastern Division championship and the No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament Tamara Abalde, Brittney Williams and Nikki Williams were named to the leagues all conference teams.

Abalde earned First Team All-SLC and was named Freshman of the Year, while Williams and Williams were tabbed third team.

Abalde, a native of Vigo, Spain, becomes just the sixth player in school history to be named to the Southland Conference First Team, joining Kara Audery (1983, 1984), Joy Omen (1983), Talia Goudy (1999), Shawnta Vanzant (2001) and LaToya Carson (2006). She is also just the second player to earn SLC Freshman of the Year honors, joining Brittney Williams who earned the award last year.

The only freshman named to the All-SLC First Team, Abalde recorded five double-doubles, eight 20-plus point games and scored a single-game high 44 points against Wiley College on November 24. She finished sixth in the league in scoring (15.7), ninth in rebounds (7.3), knocked down a .434 mark from the field and was named player of the week two times.

Brittney Williams, a Spring, Texas native, finished the regular season third in scoring for the Lady Cardinals with 12.9 points per game, with a shooting percentage of 44.8 which ranked second on the team. Her scoring and shooting percentage numbers both rank 10th in the SLC.

In the Lady Cards final game of the regular season Brittney Williams notched her 800th career point with her first field goal of the game. She finished the game with eight points and a career total of 806 points which ranks 16th on the schools all-time scoring list.

Nikki Williams, a native of White Castle, La., put together one of the best all-around seasons for a Lady Cardinals player. She averaged 14 points per game and passed out 112 assists and picked up 73 steals on the year while knocking down 62 three point field goals and 82 percent of her free throws. She ranks second in the SLC in free throw percentage, fourth in steals, sixth in assists, and eighth in scoring.

Williams' 112 assists are the most in a single season for LU since the 1994-95 season when Lisa McMahon passed out 167, and her 73 steals are the most since Lara Webb swiped 103 during the 1995-96 season. Her 62 three pointers made are the fifth most in school history for a single season, giving her four more than the 58 Danyelle Grimes knocked down during the 1997-98 season.

The Lady Cards will be back in action on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. when they take on Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.