LAWTON, Okla. – The Cameron women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with their first ranked opponent of the season but would fall 79-76 to No. 4/7 Angelo State on New Year's Eve in the Aggie Gym.
The Aggies fell by three points to leave the Rambelles undefeated on their season as they advance to 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference while Cameron drops to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Out of the gates the Aggies took a commanding 16-5 lead over the first five minutes of the game, forcing missed shots by ASU holding them to 18 percent from the field to start. Cameron would open their advantage to their largest lead of 13 points (22-9) by the 2:04 marker.
However, the Rambelles would narrow the gap in the second quarter as CU struggled making shots go in themselves with just one made bucket over five minutes. ASU tied the game at 24-all with 4:52 remaining of the half and took their first lead (26-25) of the game with 3:27 on the clock with two made free throws.
CU held steady to battle four lead changes to bring in a 35-32 advantage at the half buzzer as
Ava Battese made her third trey of the half, and the teams' fourth total with eight seconds remaining.
Meanwhile, the Ags held the Rambelles to 0-for-7 from beyond the arc and narrowly beat them from the field with a 37 percent shooting effort compared to ASU's 34 percent. But ASU held the edge at the charity stripe going 8-for-11 as CU shot 3-for-5 from the foul line.
The third quarter saw the Rambelles outscore the Aggies 20-16 helped by a 6-for-7 effort at the line and two three-pointers, their first deep buckets of the contest. Cameron trailed by one at the end of the third frame, 52-51.
With just a minute to go in the game Cameron would alternate between three and five point deficits as the Rambelles maintained their lead at the free throw line. Two good free throws from ASU helped them to a five point advantage with 13 seconds remaining that the Aggies didn't chip at until three seconds on the clock with a layup.
The charity stripe proved to be the difference as ASU won 79-76 by going 23-for-31 at the line. Their only three-pointers were two from the third quarter, and they ended the game shooting 27-for-66 from the field.
Overall, Cameron shot 29-for-78 from the field, 7-for-23 from beyond the arc and 11-for-14 at the free throw line.
Savanna James and
Natalie Halbleib each earned their fourth double-double of the season. James scored 23 points and had 12 rebounds. Before fouling out in the fourth quarter, Halbleib tallied 14 points and 12 boards.
Two other Aggies also scored double digits in
Charron Montgomery (14 pts) and
Ava Battese (12 pts).
Angelo State was led by Taylor Dorsey with 22 points.
The Aggies will remain at home for their next two conference games starting with UT Permian Basin on Jan. 5.
