LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 15, 2012) ­­— Cameron’s women’s basketball team overcame a five point halftime deficit to defend its turf with a 54-48 victory Wednesday night in the Aggie Gym.

The key to the game for the Aggies (15-8, 11-7) was its defense. The Black and Gold turned up the intensity defensively in the second half, holding Texas Woman’s (12-11, 7-10) to only three field goals – three of 20 for 15 percent – through the 20 minute half. The one place the Pioneers found success was at the free throw line, converting 16-20 for the majority of its second half points.

Offensively, Cameron also found its stride in the second stanza, improving its field goal percentage by eight points. The Aggies came out of the locker room firing in after halftime, coming out on a 9-3 run to tie the game at 30 with 13:12 left to play. Ali Brown hit a key three pointer during the run that brought CU to within two. A jumper by Nicole Pendarvis knotted the game.

The Black and Gold took its first lead of the half at 33-31 with 11:31 left to play on an aggressive drive to the hoop by Julie Paunovic, who converted the lay-up and the free throw for a momentum swinging three-point play. Cameron pulled ahead by four, 41-37, with 7:58 to play and looked to deliver the knock-out blow, but the Pioneers fought back to a tie the game at 48 with a little less than two minutes to play.

Down the stretch, the game belonged to the Black and Gold. Cameron held TWU scoreless in the final two minutes, going on a 6-0 stretch to seal the victory.

“We defended really well in second half,” said Head Coach Tom Webb. “It’s hard (to put away a team) when they go to the line a lot in the second half. But, we gave up three buckets the whole second half. If we continue to do that, we will be just fine. Offensively, we wanted to get ball inside and be aggressive in there. I felt like we did a great job at that.”

TWU played the role of spoiled in the Aggie Gym in the first half, leading from the 16:55 mark until halftime. Cameron, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm in the beginning but did enough to remain close enough for a run in the second half. Playing close, Webb said, was the key to playing strong in the second half.

“You can do that (make runs) by being confident, positive and upbeat,” he said. “It’s through believing in yourselves and we did that tonight. Lately, we haven’t been able to pull it out. Tonight, our team made some plays down the stretch. That’s the beauty of basketball. As a whole, I’m really proud of them all.”

The win sets the single-seasons conference victory record at Cameron at 11 and solidifies the Aggies’ spot in the LSC Tournament, but despite the accolades, Webb said there are still two games remaining, that’s the team’s focus.

“Number one, there is still season that matters,” he said. “Number two, we want to play great basketball down the stretch and finish strong. Those are things that are really important to us.”

“The great part about our team is though, we have a ton of floor experience,” Webb said. “When the tournament does roll around, pressure will not be an issue.”

Next up for Cameron is a road battle against Eastern New Mexico at 2 p.m. Saturday in Portales, N.M.