CU struggles from deep in loss at Eastern N.M.
December 1, 2018
Cameron University Athletics
Kenton Means – Sports Information Director
PORTALES, N.M. – The Cameron women’s basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting performance in their second Lone Star Conference contest of the season, falling to Easter New Mexico 85-65.
CU’s struggles started early and they ended the contest shooting 35.5 percent from the floor and a season low 25 percent from the perimeter. They hit on 14 of their 18 free throw attempts, but turned the ball over 24 times, leading to 22 ENMU points.
Natalie Halbleib led the Aggies on the offensive end for the second straight game, scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting. The senior is now averaging 15.3 points per game this season. Lejha Smith chipped in 10 points and six rebounds, while Parfitt McNair added seven points and seven rebounds.
The Aggies jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to a layup from McNair and an old fashion three-point play by Hableib. The teams battled back and forth the rest of the quarter and CU ended up leading 19-14 after the first 10 minutes of play. The Greyhounds shot just 25 percent from the floor in the first period while CU shot 43.8 percent.
Cameron went cold in the second quarter, not getting their first bucket of the frame until the 3:32 mark. They would go on to score just four more points in the half, as Smith made a jumper at the 1:02 mark and then hit a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left in the quarter. Eastern New Mexico added 20 points in the period to lead CU 34-25 at the break.
Smith led the Aggies with seven points and four rebounds in the first half, while Dasia Johnson led ENMU with nine points. Cameron, who has been one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation so far this season, went just 1-12 from the perimeter in the first half and shot 30 percent from the floor. On the other side of the court, the Greyhounds shot just 31.6 percent, going 2-9 from deep.
The Aggies were much more efficient in the third quarter, as they shot 7-12 from the floor, 3-4 from deep, and 4-4 from the charity stripe, but eight CU turnovers and a shooting percentage of 54.5 allowed the Greyhounds to score 25 points and lead 62-46 heading into the final frame.
Cameron struggled again in the fourth, shooting just 30 percent from the field and going 3-12 from three. They also had six turnovers, allowing the Greyhounds to score 23 points, eight of which came from the foul line, in the final 10 minutes of play.
Eastern used a balanced scoring attack to get the win, led by Treyanna Clay, who had 16 points, and Johnson and Tilasha Okey, who each scored 14.
The Aggies fall to 2-6 on the season and 0-2 in league play with the loss, while ENMU improves to 6-1 overall and 2-0 against LSC opponents.
Cameron will return to non-conference action for their next test, hosting No. 18 Lubbock Christian on Saturday, Dec. 8.