Pioneers rally to down Lady Aggies
December 9, 2004LAWTON, Okla. (Dec. 9) - Cameron's women's basketball team led virtually the entire second half, but a lackluster effort at the free throw line did the Lady Aggies in Thursday against Texas Woman's University.
Coach Dick Halterman's squad led by as many as 13 in the second period, but finished the game just 18-of-37 from the free throw line in a 59-56 loss to the Pioneers. Matalya McBath's three-pointer with four seconds remaining gave the Pioneers their only lead of the second half as Cameron fell to 1-6 on the season. TWU won its third straight to improve to 5-2.
Junior guard Brittany Cooksey, who was limited to just two points in a pair of contests last week, broke out of the scoring slump with a team-high 18 points against the Pioneers. Junior Katie Stoll added 11 points, while sophomore Chelsea Turner led the Lady Aggies with nine rebounds.
Marred by sloppy play, Thursday's contest featured a total of 57 turnovers and 48 total fouls. Cameron attempted 22 more free throws than TWU, but only outscored the Pioneers by 11 at the line. The Pioneers could have closed the gap further, but converted just 7-of-15 charity attempts in the game.
Cameron opened up a 41-28 lead on a free throw by Tiffany Williams, who saw action for the first time this season after recovering from a preseason injury, with 11:24 left in the second half. Williams collected five rebounds, but committed eight turnovers in her first appearance since being named last year's Lone Star Conference North Division Co-Freshman of the Year.
Despite committing 18 second-half turnovers, the Lady Aggies held off the Pioneers until the final minute of the game. Taylor Campbell's free throws with 1:08 remaining put the Lady Aggies up by five at 56-51. But two Cameron turnovers in a span of 15 seconds led to five quick points by the Pioneers to knot the score with 27 seconds to play.
Stoll had a chance to put the pressure on the Pioneers, stepping to the free throw line with :23 showing on the clock. But Stoll missed both attempts and after a TWU rebound, McBath walked the ball up the court, stepped to the three-point line unguarded and calmly drained her third trey of the game to give the Pioneers just thier third lead of the game.
Cameron turned the ball over on the inbound pass and an ill-advised TWU three-point attempt in the final seconds went out of bounds with one second left. But Cameron couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.
