Aggies lose close one to Wildcats
December 17, 2008LAWTON, Oklahoma (December 17) – A great night under the boards was not enough for the Cameron Aggie women’s basketball team (4-5, 0-0 LSC North) who lost to the Abilene Christian Wildcats (5-3, 0-0 LSC South) 76-65 tonight in the Aggie Gym. CU and ASU battled for most of the game until the ‘Cats pulled away towards the very end. Cameron has now lost two consecutive games for the first time all season.
“I was really proud of our kids. I thought they played hard tonight,” Head Coach Tom Webb said. “If we play with that effort for forty minutes every single night it will make for an exciting game and will give us a chance to win every night.”
The Aggies and Wildcats exchanged leads until the 12:34 mark in the second half when ACU pulled ahead for the final time. Cameron’s largest lead of the game was 6 points, and Abilene was once up by as many as 18 points. The score at halftime had ACU up 31-28.
“Defensively we did a good job but they hit some big shots, so give them credit,” Coach Webb. “We broke down on our communication a few times but our post play was good. We did a great job on team rebounds.”
Cameron out-rebounded Abilene Christian 35-34 but shot a lower shooting percentage, 36.1% to 46.8%. The Aggies out-blocked the Wildcats 6 to 3, and both teams committed 20 personal fouls. Both teams also had three players score in double-digits.
“The fact that we out-rebounded them tonight is a huge positive for us to build on,” Coach Webb said. “As we continue to knock down more shots, play hard, and rebound well, we’ll always be in the game and we’ll have a good year.”
Junior post Amber Schroer had a great night rebounding as she finished with a game-high 8 rebounds. Schroer also recorded 6 points on 2-5 shooting and a block in 34 minutes of play.
Another of CU’s junior post players, Megan Atkins, also had a solid game. Atkins contributed 11 points on 4-7 shooting, an assist, a steal, and a game-high 3 blocks in her 34 minutes on the floor.
Redshirt freshman Gabby Walk had a superb night running the Aggie offense. She recorded 12 points on 4-13 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block in 26 minutes.
“I thought Gabby played really hard tonight,” Coach Webb said. “Her assist-turnover ratio was positive and she ran the show pretty well. It was a good night for her and she’ll get better as the year goes on.”
The final Cameron player to finishing with a double-digit point total was senior guard Kristi Taylor. She totaled a team-high 18 points on 5-11 shooting including a perfect 8-8 at the foul line. Taylor also recorded an assist in her 19 minutes of play.
Tonight’s game was CU’s final of 2008 and the fall semester. The Aggies are back in action on Saturday, January 3, when they travel to Portales, New Mexico, to battle the Eastern New Mexico Zias at 2:00pm.
