The Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals refers to the college athletics teams of Lamar University, in Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals and Lady Cardinals teams compete in seventeen NCAA Division I sports as a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals rejoined the Southland after spending the 2021–22 athletic year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
The Lamar Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Cardinals currently play in the Southland Conference following a return from the Western Athletic Conference on July 11, 2022. They were one of four programs, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference on July 1, 2021, to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Lamar left the Southland Conference for the second time, having initially joined at the league's formation in 1963, left in 1987, and returned in 1999. After one season in the WAC, Lamar returned to the Southland Conference. The Cardinals have played home games in the Montagne Center since 1984. The Lamar University basketball team is one of the school's most storied athletic programs. The Cardinals have competed in NCAA Tournament play eleven times and six times at the NCAA Division I level with the most recent appearance in the 2012 tournament. The 1979–80 team was one of the 1980 tournament's Sweet Sixteen teams. The Cardinals have also competed in four NIT tournaments. Heading into the 2014–2015 season Lamar had a 284–143 record in the Montagne Center. The Cardinals overall record going into the 2014–2015 season was 922–818.
Larry Dan Tidwell is the head coach for the Schulenburg High School women’s basketball team. Before moving to Kansas, he served as women's basketball head coach from 2013–2018 at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, having been retained when his former institution, the University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA), merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville. Prior to this position, he was head coach of the Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team for six seasons from 2007–2013, as well as the Lamar athletics director from June 2010 to May 2011.
The Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. The team plays in the 10,080 seat Montagne Center. The Lady Cardinals currently compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Southland Conference.
The Lamar Lady Cardinals softball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team competes in the Southland Conference. The Lady Cardinals are currently led by head coach Amy Hooks. The team played its home games at the off–campus Ford Park for the first two seasons following the program restart in 2013. The Lady Cardinals began playing home games at the Lamar Softball Complex located on the university's campus starting with the 2015 season.
The East Texas A&M Lions women's soccer team is the women's intercollegiate soccer program representing East Texas A&M University. The school competes in the Southland Conference (SLC) in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). For the first 27 years of existence, they competed in the Lone Star Conference of Division II. The East Texas A&M women's soccer team plays its home games at Lion Soccer Field on the university campus in Commerce, Texas. The Lions won four LSC regular season championships, three conference tournament titles, and made six appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The team is currently coached by Ashley Gordon.
The 2017 Southland Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southland Conference held from November 1–5, 2017. The seven-match tournament took place at Jack Dugan Stadium in Corpus Christi, Texas. The eight-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Houston Baptist Huskies were the defending champions, but they were eliminated from the 2017 tournament with a 1–0 quarterfinal loss to the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears. The Lamar Lady Cardinals won the tournament with a 2–0 win over the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks in the final. This was the first Southland Conference tournament title for the Lamar women's soccer program and for head coach Steve Holeman.
The Lamar Soccer Complex, built in 2009 on the campus of Lamar University, is a soccer facility located in Beaumont, Texas. It is the home stadium for the Division I (NCAA) Lamar Lady Cardinals soccer team. The stadium has a permanent seating capacity of 500. Stadium features include covered benches for both the home and visiting teams, lighting, and a programmable fertilization and irrigation system. Construction of the stadium began on June 15, 2009. Construction cost of the soccer field and adjacent Lamar Soccer and Softball Complex building was $3,724,920. The stadium and supporting Lamar Soccer and Softball Complex building were part of a $29 million athletic construction project.
The Lamar Lady Cardinals volleyball team represents Lamar University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Lady Cardinals compete in the Southland Conference and play their home games at McDonald Gym, an on campus facility in Beaumont, Texas. Ariel Apolinario was named head coach on January 5, 2024. He replaced former head coach Brandon Crisp who left the program on November 13, 2023.
Amy Deanne Hooks is an American college softball coach and former catcher who is the current head coach at Lamar. Prior to her position at Lamar, she served as assistant softball coach for six seasons at Northwestern State.
Steve Holeman is the head women's soccer coach at Texas State University, an NCAA Division I program in the Sun Belt Conference. He was named Texas State head coach on February 9, 2022. Prior to his position at Texas State, Holeman served as head coach at three Southeastern Conference universities starting the program at two of those universities. He started the soccer program at Auburn serving as an interim head coach for one season (1993). He moved to Ole Miss starting the women's soccer program there and served as head coach for fifteen seasons (1994–2010). He moved to another Southeastern Conference university, Georgia serving as the Lady Bulldogs head coach for five seasons (2011–2015). He served as head coach at Lamar University from 2016 to 2021.
The 2019 Southland Conference women's soccer tournament, the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southland Conference, was held from November 6 to November 10, 2019. The seven-match tournament took place at the Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex in Conway, Arkansas. The eight-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Abilene Christian Wildcats, but they were unable to defend their title falling in the first round to McNeese State 2–1. The Lamar Cardinals won the tournament, defeating Northwestern State 3–1 in the final. The title was the second overall for the Lamar Cardinals program, both of which have come under head coach Steve Holeman.
The 2021–22 Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Cardinals, led by third-year head coach Aqua Franklin, played their home games at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The 2022–23 Lamar Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals were led by second-year head coach Alvin Brooks and played their home games at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals' returned as members of the Southland Conference following one season in the Western Athletic Conference. The Cardinals finished the 2022–23 season 9–22 overall and 5–13 in Southland Conference play to finish last in conference. The Cardinals failed to qualify for the SLC tournament.
The 2022–23 Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Cardinals, led by fourth year head coach Aqua Franklin, played their home games at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas as members of the Southland Conference. The Lady Cardinals finished the 2022–23 season with an overall record of 20–12 and 12–6 in conference play. After defeating McNeese in the second round and Texas A&M–Corpus Christi in the semi–final round of the 2023 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament, Lamar's season ended losing to Southeastern Louisiana in tournament championship game. Lamar entered the tournament as third seed.
The 2022 Southland Conference women's soccer tournament, the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southland Conference, was held from November 2 to November 6, 2022. The six-match tournament took place at the Lady Demon Soccer Complex in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The seven-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the Northwestern State Lady Demons. Northwestern State was defeated in the semifinal round by Texas A&M-Commerce Lions 2–3. Lamar Lady Cardinals won the championship by defeating the Houston Christian Huskies 1–0 in the semifinal round and Texas A&M-Commerce 4–1 in the championship final match. The Lady Cardinals qualified for the Southland Conference's autobid to the 2022 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament. The championship win was Lamar's third in the conference.
The 2023 Lamar Cardinals baseball team represented Lamar University during the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cardinals played their home games at Vincent–Beck Stadium and were led by seventh–year head coach Will Davis. They returned as members of the Southland Conference following one year as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
The 2023 Southland Conference women's soccer tournament, the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southland Conference, was held from November 1 to November 5, 2023. The six-match tournament took place at the Dr. Jack Dugan Soccer & Track Stadium in Corpus Christi, Texas. The seven-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. In a tournament which included three matches that were decided by penalty kicks, Lamar, the defending champions, won its fourth overall Southland Conference tournament championship and its second consecutive tournament championship in a 3-1 match vs #3 seed, McNeese.
The 2023–24 Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Cardinals, led by fifth year head coach Aqua Franklin, played their home games at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas as members of the Southland Conference. They won the Southland Conference regular season championship with a 17–1 record. Lamar was defeated by Texas A&M–Corpus Christi in the SLC tournament championship game. They were invited to compete in the inaugural 2024 WBIT. Their season ended with a first round loss to Washington State.
Lamar Soccer Complex grandstands
Soccer and Softball Complex Building
