OKLAHOMA CITY – The Aggie women spread out the attack and capitalized on Oklahoma Christian's mistakes to open Lone Star Conference play with a 78-70 win on New Year's Eve night.
After going 5-5 during their initial non-conference slate, the Cameron women's basketball team officially began league play on the final day of the 2021 calendar year. They faced the OC Eagles on their home court, who were still searching for their first win of the new season.
Cameron was back to their pressuring ways, forcing 23 turnovers with 16 coming off CU steals. The Aggies were uncharacteristically inefficient shooting the ball, posting a 31.3 percent clip from the field while going 12-45 from three and 14-21 from the foul line. They also totaled a season-high 52 rebounds with 19 of those coming on the offensive end.
Maighan Hedge once again led the Black and Gold with 23 points, her seventh game this season with 20 or more points. The fourth-year guard also had a team-high five steals and was 8-18 from the field, including 4-8 from three.
Three other Aggies eclipsed 10 points in the win.
Stephanie Peterson had 16 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals, while
Whitney Outon added 13 points and four steals and
Katie King flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, nine boards, and six assists.
It took some time for the Aggies to shake the rust off, as they shot just 28 percent from the field and were 2-11 from three in the opening quarter against the Eagles. Despite the struggles, the defensive pressure kept them in the game as they led 19-16 after 10 minutes of action.
Cameron again shot just around 30 percent in the second quarter, this time going 3-13 from three. The Aggies were able to knock down all four of their free throw attempts and kept up the pressure (14 forced turnovers in the half) to win the quarter 21-19 and lead the Eagles 40-35 at the halftime break.
The third quarter was CU's best as they shot nearly 39 percent from the field and were 6-14 from three as they built their lead up to 10 points. The Eagles hung around though and cut the lead back down to five heading into the final period.
Cameron was again cold in the final frame, shooting 29 percent from the field and going 1-7 from three, which allowed the Eagles to chip away at the deficit and cut it to just two with 1:20 to play. CU got a big three from
Whitney Outon to put the team back up by five. OC went cold in the final minutes and the Aggies made enough of their free throws to hold on for the 78-70 win.
Brooklyn Bain was one of three Eagles to reach double-figures in the scoring column. She led the team with 12 points, while Kate Bradley had an 11-point, 10 assists double-double for OC. The home team shot 36 percent from the field and 20 percent from three while going 12-17 from the foul line in the loss.
Cameron improves to 6-5 with their first true road win of the season and 1-0 in league play. They will be back in action on Sunday, Jan. 2, for their first game of 2022. They visit UAFS with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. in Fort Smith, Ark.
