LUBBOCK, Texas – In the program's second ever Lone Star Conference Championship semifinal game, the Aggie women's basketball team could not pull off the upset of No. 1 Lubbock Christian, falling 84-69.

Cameron's 87-76 win over Midwestern State in the tournament quarterfinal did two things, gave them their first postseason win since 2002 and set them up with a matchup against the top team in all of NCAA Division II.

"I'm really proud of these kids," said CU head coach Emma Andrews about the resiliency of her team down the stretch. "We had a rough start to the year… their character and heart is unlike any team I have ever coached, so I think as we were able to get more time together on the floor we were able to build that chemistry. They work hard all the time, you don't have to worry about their effort, and they have winning mentalities and I think it was a big shift for our program and I'm really excited to see what's next."

The Aggies, who have not shied away from top-10 ranked opponents this season, brought that same mentality into the Rip Griffin Center on Friday afternoon. Katie King got things started by scoring the first three points of the game on a triple off a LCU turnover. CU propelled that to a seven-point advantage mid-way through the quarter. LCU responded and tied the game at 17 to end the first.

Like she did in the first, King opened the second quarter with a triple, and then after CU fell behind, King tied the game again at 23 on another three-pointer with 5:31 left in the half. The two traded buckets to close out the period, but a three by Ashton Duncan as time expired, gave LCU a six-point advantage, 37-31 at the break.

Cameron shot just 36.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes but went 7-16 from three and 2-2 from the foul line. They forced LCU into 10 turnovers, with five of those coming via steals. On their home court, the Lady Chaps shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half, going 4-14 from three and 9-13 from the charity stripe.

In the third quarter, a Kiara Lovings triple got the Aggies back to within two, but that would be as close as Cameron would get the rest of the game. LCU started to pull away late in the third, 16-2 run to extend their lead to 16 with 2:19 left in the quarter.

The Lady Chaps continued to stretch their lead into the fourth quarter, leading by as much as 25 with 4:14 left in the semifinal matchup. Cameron made a late run, as another Lovings three got them back to within 15, but with just 25 seconds left, LCU ran out the clock for the 84-69 win.

Cameron shot 38.2 percent for the game, knocking down 13 threes, just two days after falling one shy of a tournament record with 15 against MSU. However, they missed seven of their 21 free throw attempts and were out-rebounded 39-27 by the much taller LCU squad.

King proved why she was named to the LSC All-Freshman team on Wednesday, finishing the night with 18 points on 5-8 shooting from the field. The Harrah, Okla. native was 4-5 from long-distance and added four assists and two steals for CU.

"Katie (King) is an amazing kid. My assistant coach Jeff Mahoney coached her throughout high school and knew what she was going to bring to our team. The more she plays, the more confidence she gets… she stepped up tonight and she held us together."
 
Lovings also cracked double-figures, scoring 11 off the Aggie bench with nine of those coming from behind the three-point line. Jazmin Luster added nine points and a team-high six rebounds, while first team All-LSC selection, Maighan Hedge was held to seven points on 2-11 shooting.

Lubbock Christian shot over 46 percent on their home floor and went to the free throw line 31 times, converting on 26 of those. Four Lady Chaps scored in double-figures, led by Duncan with 19, thanks to five made threes.

With their 90th straight win in the Rip Griffin Center, LCU advances to the LSC Championship final for the second straight season, where they will await the winner of the Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M semifinal.

"I thought our kids played hard the entire game today, and I'm excited to maybe get the chance to play again next week and we will see how that goes."

Cameron falls to 11-7 on the year with the loss. Their fate in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional will be announced on Sunday, March 7, at 10 p.m., when ncaa.com airs the women's basketball selection show. The Aggies came in at No. 5 on the first and only ordered rankings of the year that made their debut earlier this week.