LAWTON, Okla. (Nov. 30, 2011) ― Cameron’s women’s basketball team traveled to Stephenville, Texas for its opening conference game Wednesday night. The Aggies remained competitive against Tarleton State, but in the end, fell just short of a conference victory, losing 71-59.

The Black and Gold (2-2, 0-1) stayed close at the start of the game, remaining within three points, 9-12, at 13:46 in the first half. As the first half continued, the TexAnns kept their foot on the gas, pulling ahead to 26-43 to carry a 17 point lead into the half. Senior Sabelle Diata led the team in the first half, playing 19 of 20 minutes and scoring eight points, while shooting 50 percent from the field.

“You can’t get down 17 at half on the road, in a conference game, and expect to win it,” said Head Coach Tom Webb. “Offensively, we just didn’t execute in the first half; we didn’t defend at all. Second half, we played much better defense. We were aggressive in the full court.”

The TexAnns continued to apply pressure in the second half, taking its lead up a game-high 18 points five minutes left in the contest. But Cameron would respond, going on a 13-4 run to pull to within nine. Cameron would get as close as six, but Tarleton’s women continued to make their shots down the stretch, extending the lead back to 12.

“Our defense fed to our offense (in the second half),” Webb said. “It gave us some easier looks and got a good tempo going. At the end of the day, anytime you go on the road and drop one, that’s not the way you want to start. But, there are 19 more (games) to go, so you have to go out there and compete every day.”

Diaita would add 10 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 18 for the Aggies, while also pulling in 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.  Senior Julie Paunovic also posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, while also adding two steals and two blocks.

Cameron will return to action on Dec. 3 with a conference match-up against Texas A&M-Commerce (1-4, 0-1) at 2 p.m. in the Aggie Gym.