HOUSTON — The HCU women's basketball team returns to Sharp Gym on Thursday evening to host Lamar in a 6:00 p.m. Southland Conference contest as the Huskies begin their final three-game homestand of the regular season.

HCU (8-18, 6-13 SLC) is coming off a split road trip last week, earning 71-53 road win at East Texas A&M before falling 70-64 at Northwestern State on Saturday. The Huskies are 5-5 at home this season and will look to defend Sharp Gym down the stretch with games against Lamar, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.

Lamar (17-9, 14-5 SLC) enters Thursday after an 84-54 home win over New Orleans and sits near the top of the conference standings in a three-way tie for second place. The Cardinals defeated HCU, 66-54, in the first meeting on Jan. 8 in Beaumont.

Grace Booth leads the Huskies with 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Kamryn McLaurin adds 10.9 points per contest. As a team, HCU is averaging 8.7 steals per game to rank fourth in the league this season.

Lamar is paced by Kamryn Wilson's 11.4 points per game, with Jacei Denley and Shaila Forman each contributing nearly 10 points per contest. The Cardinals head into Thursday's game ranking second in the SLC in three-point field goal percentage this season, connecting on 35.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Following Thursday's contest, HCU remains home to host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. before closing the regular season on Monday against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi at 5:00 p.m.