Aggies fall in LSC opener at No. 5 WT
November 29, 2018
Cameron University Athletics
Kenton Means – Sports Information Director
CANYON, Texas – Despite making 12 three pointers in their first Lone Star Conference game of the season, the Cameron women’s basketball team fell 74-67 to No. 5 West Texas A&M on Thursday night.
The Aggies finished the contest shooting 12-28 from the perimeter, while making 38.1 percent from the floor and going 7-14 from the charity stripe. On the other end of the court, the reigning league champion shot 45.3 percent from the field, hitting 6-17 from deep, and went 20-33 from the foul line.
Natalie Halbleib led the Black and Gold with a 17 point, 10 rebound double-double, as the senior went 6-9 from the floor and 3-4 from three. Ava Battese chipped in 13 points for CU, while Chelsea Heidebrecht had 11 points and five boards off the bench.
The Lady Buffs started out hot, going on a 9-0 run to start the game, but Cameron did not stay down long, as Maighan Hedgemade a jumper in the lane and then Heidebrecht hit a three to get CU to within four with 4:56 left in the quarter. The duo then repeated the sequence less than a minute later to give their team a 10-9 lead. West Texas then went on a 15-0 run in the final 3:40 of the frame to lead 24-10 after 10 minutes of play.
Cameron’s offense came out firing in the second period, scoring 25 points and hitting five three pointers. However, WT finished the quarter with 11 free throw attempts of which they made nine, while CU did not go to the line through the first 20 minutes of the game. Those nine foul shots would be the difference at the half as the Lady Buffs led 44-35 at halftime.
In the first half, WT shot a blazing 57.7 percent from the field, while hitting five shots from deep. On the other side of the court, Cameron hit just 42.4 percent of their shots from the floor, but was 7-14 from the perimeter. Tyesha Taylor led all scorers with 13 points at the half, while Hedge had nine points and Heidebrecht had eight for the Black and Gold.
WT started the third with a 6-2 stretch, followed by an 8-0 run by the Aggies capped by three pointers by Halbleib and Battese to bring cut the deficit to just five with 5:35 left in the quarter. Cameron went on to score just one more time in the period (another three from Battese), and the Buffs would jump back out to lead 13 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Buffs continued their strong play, including getting to the free throw line 16 times and making eight of them to help them hold onto at least a 10 point lead until CU made three free throws of their own to cut the lead down to a final score of 74-67.
Taylor led the home team with 21 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks, with Lexi Hightower chipping in 18, seven boards, and three steals and Megan Gamble adding 13 points.
Cameron now sits at 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in league play, while WT stays perfect with a 7-0 overall record and a 1-0 LSC mark.
CU will travel further west for their next contest, as they visit Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Dec. 1 with tipoff set for 3 p.m. (CT).