Perimeter shooting sinks Lady Aggies

GAME BOXSCORE»

LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 19) - The Cameron women's basketball team went 0-of-10 from three-point range Saturday, including 0-of-6 in the second half, giving Northeastern State a season sweep over the Lady Aggies with a 51-47 win at Aggie Gym.

The loss dropped Coach Dick Halterman's squad to 11-14 overall and 5-5 in Lone Star Conference North Division play.

Earlier this season, Cameron ended a string of 155 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made by going 0-of-12 behind the arc against NSU.

Joneatta Brown provided an offensive spark for the Lady Aggies off the bench Saturday. The Conroe, Texas, junior finished with game highs in points (14), steals (3) and blocked shots (3). Brittany Cooksey also scored 14 for the Lady Aggies, while Melissa Steen chipped in six points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Northeastern State (17-8, 7-3 LSC North) had three players in double figures, led by Jenna Miller's 14.

Cameron took its only lead of the game midway through the second half Saturday. Steen's offensive putback off a miss by Brown made it 29-28 Lady Aggies with 11:58 to play. A 5-0 run that included four straight points by Cooksey had Cameron on top 36-30 with 7:58 remaining.

But Northeastern State launched a 15-4 run from there to seize control. Three straight free throws by Cara Busson capped the rally and had the Lady Reds on top 48-40 with 48 seconds left. Brown answered with five straight points of her own, including a jumper in the lane off an assist by Cooksey that made it 48-43 with 18 ticks left on the clock. But that's as close as the Lady Aggies would get, as Miller and Rikki Hall combined to make three of four free throw attempts in the final seconds to hold on for the win.

In their first meeting of the season on Jan. 29, in Tahlequah, Cameron's offense stumbled to a 12.5 percent shooting effort while converting just three field goals in the first half. Northeastern led 28-9 at halftime and never looked back. Saturday's first half wouldn't have been much different, if not for a 9-of-9 showing at the charity stripe by the Lady Aggies before intermission. Cameron shot 22.7 percent (5-of-22) in the first half, but trailed just 21-19 at the break.

The Lady Aggies finished 13-of-14 at the line in the game, while Northeastern hit just 8-of-17 from the line in the second half and finished 11-of-22 for the game.