Cooksey, Lady Aggies rally past Javelinas
January 6, 2005KINGSVILLE, Texas (Jan. 6) - Texas A&M-Kingsville led the entire first half, but it was a second-half run by the Cameron women's basketball team that proved to be the difference.
Brittany Cooksey scored 19 of her game-high 27 points after intermission, including six on free throws in the final minute, leading the Lady Aggies to a 78-71 Lone Star Conference crossover victory over the Javelinas on Thursday. It was the third straight win for Cameron (5-7) and the fourth in its last five outings.
In addition to Cooksey, three other Lady Aggies scored in double-figures. Junior Katie Stoll knocked down 4-of-5 from three-point range and finished with 16 points. Senior Christina Buben and sophomore Chelsea Turner added 12 apiece. Junior Melissa Steen led the Lady Aggies with seven rebounds.
Coach Dick Halterman's squad eclipsed the 50 percent shooting mark for the first time this season, converting 24-of-46 (.522) against the Javelinas. The Lady Aggies also kept their turnover total below 20 for just the third time all year, committing only 15 miscues, including just seven in the second half.
Texas A&M-Kingsville (3-10), which lost for the fifth straight game, got 17 points each from Aasia Betts and Nahogany Brown.
Cameron struggled early, committing turnovers in three of its first four possessions as the Javelinas raced to an early lead. TAMUK connected on three of its first five three-point attempts and picked up six offensive rebounds en route to a 22-8 advantage with just over 12 minutes left in the opening period.
Stoll got the Lady Aggies going with back-to-back three-pointers on the next two Cameron possessions, igniting a 10-0 run that pulled CU to within four at 22-18. Texas A&M-Kingsville again built a double-digit lead on a Betts layup that made it 40-30 at the 2:08 mark, but the Lady Aggies finished the half with an 8-2 surge to trail by just four at the break.
Cameron continued the momentum in the second half. Cooksey pulled the Lady Aggies within one with a three-pointer and gave Cameron a five-point lead with another trey to make it 48-43 with 16:53 showing on the clock.
The Javelinas answered with a 5-0 run to even the score, but Cooksey's layup with just under 15 minutes to play gave Cameron the lead for good. The Lady Aggies led by as many as 10 in the second half and held off Texas A&M-Kingsville in the final minutes, thanks to a 6-of-8 effort at the charity stripe by Cooksey over the final 52 seconds. The Bristow native was 4-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, and converted 8-of-10 free throw attempts in the second half.
Cameron will go four its fourth straight win on Saturday, wrapping up Lone Star Conference crossover play with a visit to Texas A&M-Commerce. The Lady Aggies' 4 p.m., tipoff with the Lions will be preceded by a men's game scheduled to begin at 2.
