PORTALES, NM – The Cameron women's basketball teams could not get things going Saturday afternoon inside the Greyhound Arena, as they dropped the matchup to Eastern New Mexico 60-48.
The Black-and-Gold's losing streak moves to three games as they return home for the final time this season with two games this upcoming weekend against Angelo State on Thursday and UT Permian Basin on Saturday, which will also be senior day. The game against ASU will tip at 5:30 pm on Thursday, inside the Aggie Gym.
After the two losses this week, CU falls out of the Lone Star Conference tournament and will have to fight to stay alive with five games left in the season, as they fall to 10-13 overall, 7-10 in the Lone Star Conference, and 4-7 in the Western Division.
Kailyn Lay led Cameron with 10 points, and Kiara Lovings and Alena Wilson scored eight. Kloe Heidebrecht recorded six, Katie King had five points, Korie Allensworth, Taliyah Johnson, Karley Miller collected three, and LaKya Leslie added two points.
Wilson grabbed seven rebounds, Leslie snagged six, Lovings and Miller pulled in four boards, King collected three, and five players had two rebounds; Allensworth, Alannah Gillespie, Heidebrecht, Johnson, and Lay.
King led CU with four assists, Wilson dished out two, and Allensworth, Gillespie, and Lay had one assist.
Heidebrecht and Lay led the team with two steals, Gillespie, Johnson, and Leslie added one.
Heidebrecht and Miller each swatted a shot.
Cameron was held to 26.6 percent (17-for-64) shooting from the floor, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from long range, and made 8-of-11 free throws. ENMU did not fare much better from the floor, shooting 31.1 percent (19-of-61), 25.0 percent from three (7-for-28), and made 15-of-24 shots from the charity stripe.
To open the night, Lay would make a layup on the game's first two possessions for the Aggies before Eastern went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead midway through the opening frame. Leslie would make the next basket for Cameron at the 1:58 mark, breaking a five-minute drought. The Black-and-Gold shot 3-of-13 to open the night, finding themselves in a 15-8 hole at the end of the first quarter.
The Greyhounds would hold a 6-5 scoring advantage in the first five minutes of the second quarter, holding an eight-point lead at 21-13. The Aggies would fight back to take a 25-23 lead after a 12-2 run to close the first half, holding ENMU without a made basket for the final 7:49. Eastern New Mexico would miss the last 13 shots they took in the second quarter, and had four turnovers.
The Greyhounds would take a 32-31 lead for good after a made free throw with 6:06 left in the stanza. They would go on a 10-0 run to build a 10-point lead with 2:11 left, but teams traded a basket late, as Eastern would head into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead at 42-32.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, ENMU would make four straight three balls to build a 17-point lead at 54-37. Down the stretch, the Aggies did not fold, scoring 11 points over the final six minutes of the play.
