KINGSVILLE, Texas. (Feb. 9, 2012) ― Cameron traveled to Kingsville with the goal of solidifying its place in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, but fell short in its bid to a ready Texas A&M-Kingsville team, 86-65.

“At the end of the day, we need to be tougher and continue to fight on the road,” said Head Coach Tom Webb. “They (the referees) called three fouls the whole first half and allowed physical play. We’ve got to be ready for that. And that all comes back to me … I didn’t have them ready.”

The Aggies (14-7, 10-6) struggled in the first half, trailing by as many as 15 late in the half. The team was also out rebounded 22-14 in the half, including eight offensive boards for the Javelinas. Kingsville jumped ahead early, converting on its first four shots to take a 9-2 lead. From there, the home team kept its foot on the gas and fought the whole game to put the Black and Gold away. Sabelle Diata and Nicole Pendarvis provided Cameron’s offense in the first half, posting 12 and eight points, respectively. Chelsea Stamp provided the spark off the bench, coming in to score nine points on 3-4 from downtown.
The home team continued its hot streak in the second half, while Cameron continued to struggle.  Kingsville was able to extend its lead throughout, eventually out rebounding the Aggies 47-31, with 20 offensive rebounds. The Javelinas were also able to shoot 48 percent from the field against Cameron’s top 10 defense.
“Going into the game, we had a top three defense in the nation … we just didn’t defend,” Webb said. “We gave up too buckets in transition and just didn’t defend well overall. We needed to fight. And, they shot the ball well at home. You have to give them some credit. It puts pressure on you to score, and we just didn’t do that.”

The loss leaves Cameron in fourth place in the conference with four games remaining, but the Aggies will get an opportunity to get the bad taste out of their mouth at 2 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio, Texas against Incarnate Word (11-11, 6-10)

“At the end of the day, we’ll see what we’re made of,” Webb said. “We’ll see if we compete on Saturday and find out where we stand.”