Lions hold off Aggies for tough victory
February 6, 2008LAWTON, Oklahoma (February 6) – A year removed from an NCAA Division-II Elite Eight appearance, the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions (15-6, 4-2 LSC-North) tonight held off a tough Cameron Aggie women’s basketball team (3-18, 0-6 LSC-North) for a victory in Aggie Gym. Cameron fought hard for the entire 40 minutes, but could not get the breaks needed to upset the Lions. The Aggies fell to the Lions by the score 89-75 and are still winless in Lone Star Conference North Division play. TAMU-C started out the season ranked nationally but has since fallen out of the Top 25.“We kept getting close and that was the story of the night,” Head Coach Kevin Hackerott said. “We just couldn’t get a break. Our kids played hard though, and I can’t fault the effort they gave.”
Cameron shot a very solid 44.4% from the floor tonight, but couldn’t overcome A&M-Commerce’s 54.5% shooting percentage. Both teams committed 20 turnovers in the game and TAMU-C out-rebounded CU 34-27. Cameron did take 8 more shots than TAMU-C but committed 23 fouls to the Lions’ 18.
Texas A&M-Commerce scored the first point of the game on a free throw nearly two minutes into the first half. CU took a brief lead at 2-1, but the Lions regained the lead and held on for the remainder of the game. The score at halftime was 43-27 in favor the Lions.
In the second half Cameron battled back and came within 8 points of the lead. They found themselves down by 20 and pulled within 8, and after going back down by 20 the Aggies fought hard and came within 9 points. Cameron actually won the second half, 48-46.
“In the first half we really hurt ourselves with turnovers and that put us in hole,” Coach Hackerott said. “Then we had to spend too much energy trying to battle back.”
Senior guard Merrisa Martinuzzi had a fabulous night running Cameron’s offense as she finished with a game-high 11 assists with only 3 turnovers. She narrowly missed out on a points-assists double-double with her 6 points on 3-6 shooting. Martinuzzi also recorded 4 rebounds, a block, and a steal in her 35 minutes.
Four Aggies finished with double-digit scoring numbers against the Lions tonight. Senior forward Sarah Moore and junior guard Jasmine Parr both finished with a team-high 16 points. Moore went 5-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-6 from the foul line. She also recorded 5 rebounds in her 28 minutes on the floor. Parr went 6-15 from the field with a rebound and 3 assists in her team-high 39 minutes.
Senior guard Tiffany Williams tied for a game-high 8 rebounds to go along with her 14 points on 5-14 shooting. She also recorded 3 assists and 2 steals in 36 minutes of play.
Sophomore forward Megan Atkins was the fourth and final Aggie to finish in double-digit scoring as she finished with 12 points on 4-8 shooting. She also recorded 6 rebounds and a block in her 22 minutes.
“We had several kids that played well but we still need to make more baskets,” Coach Hackerott said. “Right out of the gate we missed two easy ones. When we make mistakes we need to be able to overcome them and when our opponents make mistakes we need to build off of them.
The Aggies are off this weekend and next travel to Ada, Oklahoma, to take on the East Central University Tigers on Wednesday, February 13. The teams tip off at 6:00pm. Cameron has only three home games remaining on their schedule, all of which are on Saturday afternoons.
