CAMERON VS. | AT TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
Thursday, Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. in Lawton, Okla. | Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. in Commerce, Texas
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LAWTON – The Cameron women's basketball team faces another Lone Star Conference North Division opponent this week as they battle No. 17 Texas A&M-Commerce in a home-and-home series that was moved up from the originally scheduled late February dates.

STARTING 5:
1. Now 3-2 on the season after going 2-1 last week, the Aggie women are currently receiving votes in the D2SIDA South Central Regional rankings; their opponent this week, Texas A&M-Commerce are ranked third in that same poll and No. 17 nationally. 
2. In their first game against Oklahoma Christian last week, Cameron knocked down 14 three-point field goals at a 40 percent clip on their way to a 70-67 win; both Katie King and Maighan Hedge made four triples and Logan Collyer, who made the game clinching three, made a trio of shots from behind the arc. 
3. The series between Cameron and A&M-Commerce was originally scheduled for the last weekend of the regular season, but, due to COVID-19 postponements and cancellations, the two teams decided to get the series in early. 
4. Texas A&M-Commerce is 4-1 on the year, but 4-0 in league play as their game earlier this week against Midwestern State did not count against league standings. 
5. Led by DesiRay Kernal's 18.6 points per game, the Lions currently lead the conference in scoring, averaging 76.0 points per outing. 

LAST TIME OUT:
After beating UT Permian Basin 65-56 and Oklahoma Christian 70-67 early in the week, the Aggie women dropped the rematch against OC 53-47 on Saturday. To say the CU offense struggled in the first half would be an understatement. They shot just 17 percent from the field and were 1-16 from three in the first 20 minutes of action. Cameron bounced back to out-score OC 21-8 in the third, but then went cold again in the final frame which led to the loss. Kiara Lovings led the Aggies with 11 points off the bench, while Peterson added 10 points and seven rebounds. 

ABOUT THE AGGIES:
The 3-2 Aggies are averaging 65.6 points per game while shooting 37 percent from the field, 30 percent from three-point range, and a league best 79.5 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, CU is giving up just 61.2 points per outing and rank towards the top of the LSC in three point defense, holding their opposition to a percentage of .222 from long range. Even though she scored under 10 points last time out for the first time this season, Hedge is till third in the LSC with her 17.0 points per game. The junior is also averaging 6.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, which also leads the CU squad. The freshman King is the only other Aggie averaging over 10 points per game (10.7), while Stephanie Peterson is averaging 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 45 percent from the field. 

SCOUTING THE LIONS: 
Outscoring their opponents by an average of 12.8 points, the Lions are arguably the toughest team in the Lone Star Conference. They are holding teams to a .386 field goal percentage and turning them over 24.4 times per outing with 13.8 of those coming via steals. Kernal leads the team with her 18.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and .526 shooting percentage. She is one of four Lions scoring over 10 points per game with Chania Wright averaging 10.6 points and Dyani Robinson and Juliana Louis, who have both only played in two games, are averaging 21.0 points and 11.0 points per game respectively.

AGAINST A&M-COMMERCE:
The Lions have had CU's number recently, winning eight of the last 10 matchups. In the first of two games between the two teams a year ago, the Aggies trailed by just six entering the final 10 minutes of action. A&M-C then out-scored Cameron 27-11 in the fourth quarter to win 77-55. Hedge had 13 points, six rebounds, and five assists for CU, but was also 5-18 from the field (0-5 from three) and had eight turnovers. Wright led the Lions with 25 points on 22 shots in the win. Later in the year the Aggies were down 14 entering the final quarter and, despite scoring 28 points in the fourth, lost 83-78. Hedge had another 13-point outing against the Lions, while Kernal led A&M-Commerce with 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Kernal was 12-12 and the team was 33-40 from the charity stripe in the win. 

WHO HAS NEXT:
Cameron's run through the North Division does not end with the Lions. Their next scheduled series is also against a division foe, UAFS. Like this week's slate, the first game of the series against UAFS will be played in Lawton on Thursday, Jan. 21, and then the second will be in Fort Smith, Ark. on Saturday, Jan. 23.