LAWTON – Plagued by a slow start to the first quarter, the Cameron women's basketball team fell to No. 17 Texas A&M-Commerce at home on Thursday night, 89-71.
 
Cameron was back in action on Thursday in the Aggie Gym after a schedule change moved their series against the Lions up from its originally scheduled date of late February. That meant facing a 4-1 A&M-Commerce team that's only hiccup on the season so far was a three-point loss to Midwestern State earlier this week.
 
The Black and Gold started this contest behind the 8-ball with the Lions full-court trap defense causing a turnover right out of the gate. The Lions quickly went on a 16-0 run before the Black and Gold finally scored their first bucket at the 5:05 minute mark, a Maighan Hedge jumper from the elbow. CU gave the ball away four times before the five minute mark.
 
The Aggies made a run toward the end of the final frame getting it back down to a nine point contest; CU once trailed by 17. They ended the quarter down by 12, 25-13, shooting just 28 percent in the first 10 minutes of actions.
 
After a forgettable first half for the Aggies that saw them at one point down by 23 points and 11 turnovers, CU came out with a ton of energy to start the third frame, much like they did last Saturday against Oklahoma Christian.
 
The scrappy play of the Black and Gold led to the Aggies cutting the deficit to 12 points by the end of the third. That was about where they stayed the rest of the way with the Lions keeping them at arm's length thanks to a 55.6 shooting percentage and eight made free throws in the final period.
 
Hedge was able to pour in 20-points adding three assists and three rebounds. The junior guard was 6-10 from the field and 6-7 from the foul line in her 26th career game with 20 or more points.
 
Sophomore forward LaKya Leslie hauled in 15 rebounds in this contest, which is the first time the Aggies have had a 15-plus rebounder in a game since 2017 (Lejha Smith with 19 rebounds against Oklahoma Christian). Leslie added 14 points for her first CU double-double and recorded a pair of blocks on the defensive end.
 
Fellow sophomore Stephanie Peterson was the final Aggie to get into double-figures scoring 10 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, and a block.
 
Cameron shot just 38.7 percent from the field in the loss, going 3-15 from three and 20-33 from the charity stripe. They also turned the ball over 19 times and were out-rebounded by the Lions 46-39, despite Leslie's performance on the glass.
 
The Black and Gold will look to avenge their loss against the Lions on Saturday, as the two teams meet up again, this time in Commerce, Texas with tip-off slated for 2 p.m.