LAWTON – On a night when Cameron's
Maighan Hedge broke the programs all-time scoring record, it was second-year guard
Katie King who played the hero, knocking down a shot in the final seconds to beat UT Permian Basin 67-66 on Thursday.
Hedge entered the matchup with the Falcons needing just 18 points to break the record of 1,602 points held by Cameron Hall of Famer Jo Tahsuda. She settled any doubts of not being able to reach that mark on Thursday by scoring 12 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. After a quick five points to start the third quarter, Hedge knocked down a wide open three at the top of the arch to put her over the mark. The fourth-year guard from Melbourne, Australia finished with a game-high 26 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
Cameron entered Thursday's game as one of only three teams in the league to have not lost a conference game yet. The Falcons did not make it easy for them as the road team led for 33 minutes of the battle in the Aggie Gym.
A slow start put the Aggies into a hole, allowing the Falcons to take a 22-13 lead through one quarter of play. Cameron then out-scored UTPB 21-13 in the second quarter to tail at the half by just one after a three-pointer by
Korie Allensworth in the final seconds of the half.
The Falcons continued to give the home team fits in the third quarter, as the Aggies were held to 15 points (eight from Hedge, six from King, and one from
Stephanie Peterson) as they led by six heading into the final frame. The Aggies quickly cut that deficit to one and a three by Hedge with 5:52 to play put CU on top 59-57.
After going back and forth, UTPB got a three-pointer from Morgan Helgesen with 1:23 to play to put them up two. Both teams turned the ball over on their next possessions and then Peterson got to the foul line with 42 seconds to play to try and tie the game for the ninth time. The normally steady guard missed her second shot, allowing UTPB to control the ball with a one-point lead.
The Falcons tried to eat as much clock as possible and it came back to get them as the shot clock ran out after a way off three-point attempt, giving the Aggies the ball with just under five seconds to play. After a timeout, King got the ball out of the inbound and quickly made her way to the basket before throwing up a runner from about 19-feet that found the bottom of the net. Down one, UTPB could not get a shot off in the final seconds as CU escaped with the 67-66 win.
In addition to her heroics at the end of the game, King finished with 13 points and had six assists and four steals in the win. Peterson scored just five points but finished one steal shy of a program record with eight. Allensworth and
Logan Collyer each had eight points for the Aggies.
Cameron shot just 39 percent from the field but made 14 three-pointers and forced 21 turnovers with 15 coming on steals. UTPB shot nearly 50 percent in the game and out-rebounded CU 40-29. Alexus Wykoff led the Falcons with 19 points.
The thrilling win improves the Black and Gold's record to 9-5 overall and 4-0 in league play. They look to stay un-beaten in LSC games on Saturday, Jan. 22, when they host Angelo State at 2 p.m.