LAWTON – Cameron uses patented press to create havoc, forcing 22 turnovers and race out to a 1-0 record, taking care of Adams State, 90-60;
Maighan Hedge led the Aggies in scoring, with 26 points.
The Cameron women's basketball team opened their 2021-22 basketball season, in which they are pegged to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference, with a dominating win over Adams State to open up a weekend filled with Rocky Mountain foes.
The Aggies were on fire from the word go, swarming the Grizzlie ball handlers and creating trouble for the ASU guard tandem. In the first frame, the Black and Gold were led by stand-out transfer
Korie Allensworth who finished the game with 12 points, four assists, four rebounds, and four steals. The Louisiana Tech transfer did most of her damage in the first quarter to get the Aggies started on the right foot.
Cameron led by 21 entering the break largely due to the number of turnovers their defense created as bench boss
Emma Andrews elected to stick with the press all game long, a strategy she deployed at the end of last season which prompted an 8-3 end to the 2020-21 campaign. Andrews said after the game she believes this squad is better equipped to handle pressing for the full forty minutes this year from game one through hopefully a long tournament run.
Part of Andrews' belief in that philosophy comes from the newly found depth of this year's team. The Aggies saw 13 players see the floor, only two of whom fell short of the ten-minute plateau. A team win in every sense of the word with spaced-out minutes keeping CU fresh for their first back-to-back set of the season as they welcome in Colorado-Springs to the Aggie Gym on Saturday.
Hedge (25), Allensworth (12), and
Kassie Boorer (10) all registered ten or more points, with
Katie King (9) not far behind. The trait that allowed Cameron to eventually win by 30 points was their lights-out three-point shooting along with the defensive success. CU shot the trey ball at a 40-percent clip in their season opener.
The Senior Hedge, who entered the game nine triples shy of the second-most in school history, poured in five from beyond the arc. King knocked down three, while
Logan Collyer blitzed in a pair. Allensworth, Boorer, and
Karley Miller, all capitalized on a three-point attempt in this contest to tally 13 make deep shots as a team.
The Aggies' ability to play the passing lanes, earning deflections and steals with their length, went a long way tonight as King and Allensworth each totaled four takeaways as Peterson chipped in three, and Hedge, Miller, and Boorer adding two apiece on their way to eighteen as a team.
Perhaps the most underrated storyline of tonight's win came down-low defensively, an area the Aggies struggled in a year ago as Cameron allowed their opponents to hit 50-percent of their shots at the rim. Adams State touted a pair of post players that stand 6'4 and 6'3 respectively but they combined for six points. A lot of credit goes to Andrews as the defensive mastermind allowed her lengthy guards to play help side on the towering post players and create turnovers not allowing either to get many shot attempts. The help from the zone defense resulted in the six points, and only 11 rebounds for the duo combined. CU won the battle of the boards 45-43.
The Cameron Aggies will look to build on this impressive win tomorrow when they welcome in Colorado-Colorado Spings to the Aggie Gym with tip-off set for 5:30 on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.
