WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Cameron women's basketball team could not snap their current losing streak as they fell to Red River rival MSU Texas 79-70 on Tuesday night.

The Aggies, who are fighting for the final Lone Star Conference playoff spot, got strong performances from Maighan Hedge and Lejha Smith. Hedge, scored a game-high 22 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds, while Smith added a career-best 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.

Uncharacteristically, the Aggies shot just 19 percent from three-point land, while going 41.2 percent from the field and 10-13 from the foul line. They also turned the ball over 17 times, but won the battle on the glass, 40-29.

In the first quarter, the two teams were neck-and-neck, but it was a four point run in the final minute of the frame that would give CU a 23-19 lead through the first 10 minutes of play. MSU erased the lead within the first minute of the second period and after trading buckets through the mid-part of the quarter, the Mustangs used a 6-0 run, with four straight free throws, to end the half up seven points, 40-33.

At first glance, the first half box scores for each team were almost mirror images. Cameron shot 47 percent from the field and MSU shot 48, CU was 1-6 from three and the Mustangs were 1-7 from long range, CU turned the ball over nine times and collected four steals on the defensive end while MSU had seven turnovers and totaled three steals. The one difference was that the home team Mustangs were 11-11 from the free throw line and the Aggies were just 4-4, which led to the seven point deficit at the break.

Hedge led the Black and Gold at the break with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists, while Liz Cathcart had a game-high 15 points at halftime for MSU Texas.

Cameron fell behind early in the third quarter as MSU jumped out to a 13 point lead at the 5:05 mark. However, CU would not go away, going 5-5 from the field in the next couple of minutes to get back to seven, which is where the Mustang advantage would be at the end of the third.

After trading shots to start the fourth, the Black and Gold used a 7-0 run from the 6:45 mark to the 5:45 mark to get to within one thanks to an and-one play from Smith to cap the run. MSU answered with a three point play of their own before Ava Battese made a layup to get CU to within two at the fourth quarter media. In the final minutes CU went cold, going 1-10 from the field while MSU went on a 12-2 run to build up an 11 point lead. A Smith layup with three seconds left ended the scoring drought, but it was too late.

Cathcart finished with a Mustang best 20 points, while Hannah Reynolds chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. MSU shot an even 50 percent from the field for the game and went 18-20 from the free throw line.

Cameron is now 7-18 on the season and 4-13 in LSC play, while MSU moves to 10-14 overall and 7-10 in league play, securing their spot in the conference tournament.

The Aggies, who need wins to keep their tournament hopes alive, will host Texas Woman's on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m. It will be "Pink Night" as the CU women will be wearing pink for cancer awareness.